Hanukkiah
Dreidel

In 168 B.C.E. the Jews' holy Temple was seized and dedicated to the worship of Zeus. Some Jews were afraid of the Greek soldiers and obeyed them, but most were angry and decided to fight back to defend the Torah. 

The fighting began in Modi'in, a village not far from Jerusalem. A Greek officer and soldiers assembled the villagers, asking them to bow to an idol and eat the flesh of a pig, activities forbidden to Jews. The officer asked Mattathias, a Jewish High Priest, to take part in the ceremony. He refused, and another villager stepped forward and offered to do it instead. Mattathias became outraged, took out his sword and killed the man, then killed the officer. His five sons and the other villagers then attacked and killed the soldiers. Mattathias' family went into hiding in the nearby mountains, where many other Jews who wanted to fight the Greeks joined them. They attacked the Greek soldiers whenever possible.

About a year after the rebellion started, Mattathias died. Before his death, he put his brave son Judah Maccabee in charge of the growing army. After three years of fighting, the Jews defeated the Greek army, despite having fewer men and weapons.

Judah Maccabee and his soldiers went to the holy Temple, and were saddened that many things were missing or broken, including the golden menorah. They cleaned and repaired the Temple, and when they were finished, they decided to have a big dedication ceremony. For the celebration, the Maccabees wanted to light the menorah. They looked everywhere for oil, and found a small flask that contained only enough oil to light the menorah for one day. Miraculously, the oil lasted for eight days. This gave them enough time to obtain new oil to keep the menorah lit. Today Jews celebrate Hanukkah for eight days by lighting candles in a menorah every night, thus commemorating the eight-day miracle.

According to the covenant between G-d and the children of Israel, each side was to contribute his share of this agreement. Israel, the "Chosen People" were to keep the book in its original form for future generations. They were chosen to fulfill this task, became the "keepers of the book" and did so for the past 3500 years. Keeping the book wasn't an easy task. In fact many times along this long road the agreement and its fulfillment were in grave danger. It wasn't a sure thing that Torah will be kept or even survive. It took many generations of brave and dedicated people to make this Endeavour successful.

After the reign of king Solomon and the split of the kingdom to northern Israel and Judea, many of the kings did not follow the Torah and abandoned its morals and values. Alters were built to foreign Gods and people adopted strange rituals and costumes. Some of the kings mentioned in the book of Kings did "what is right in the eyes of G-d" but did not enforce the study of Torah on the national level. A particularly interesting story is of king Josiah (Yo-shi-ya-hoo) who was involved in repairing the Temple in Jerusalem and fund Torah scrolls in its archives. Upon reading the forgotten scrolls the king realized how far they deviated from the agreement with G-d. He tore his cloths and repented, then had the Torah read in public to teach it to the people. ( Read the full story in II Kings 22 ) this is how close we were to forgetting the Torah altogether.

The significance of Hanukkah is that by the time of the Maccabees the people of Israel not only new the Torah and lived by it, but also were willing to fight and die for its defense. No longer a faltering document that may or may not survive in the consciences of a nation of idol worshippers, but a life giving foundation for a nation who lived by it and were willing to die for it if necessary. Ever since the day the Temple was rededicated, the Torah gained strength. Despite the hardships that the nation of Israel endured, the destruction of the second Temple, 2000 years of Diaspora, Holocaust and wars, there was never again a doubt about the Torah and its staying power.

The festival of lights we celebrate today is the festival of the light of Torah that will continue to shine for generations to come