Yuletide Stories
The Divine Light and Hope of Hanukkah
’Dedication’ & the Revolt of Judah Maccabee
This sacred winter story is about the Jewish people and Chanukah, which means “dedication” in Hebrew. Hanukkah begins on the 25th of Kislev, and they based this upon the Hebrew lunar calendar. Hanukkah celebrates Judah Maccabee rededicating the Second Temple.
More than that, this was a triumph of the Jews against an oppressive power. Our Abrahamic siblings long suffered abuse, oppression, and genocide; WW2 is a recent, glaring example. A Syrian ruler’s son desecrated their temple — who later controlled Judea during the 2nd century BC.
Antiochus IV Epiphanes, son of Seleucid king Antiochus III, broke with his father’s prior benevolence towards the Jews. He converted their temple to worship Zeus instead, sacrificing pigs at its altar — desecrating it. Later, the Maccabean revolt defeated the Grecco-Syrian rulers, and they re-established their Second Temple.
“Led by the Jewish priest Mattathias and his five sons, a…
