But as we have seen in our study of Luther and the Jews (which will continue in the new year with Luther's infamous treatise), it would do well to know about this holiday and why our Jewish friends celebrate it. You see, Jesus celebrated Hanukkah himself. Only in the Gospels you will find it referred to as the Feast of Dedication.
Hanukkah literally means "dedication." It is also referred to as "The Festival of Lights." This Jewish festival begins on the Hebrew date of the 25th of Kislev and lasts eight days, through the 2nd of Tevet. (This is where Hanukkah dating gets confusing. The Hebrew calendar is a lunar calendar, as opposed to our solar calendar. Hence, you will find Hanukkah jump around in late November to mid-December from year to year.) This year, that corresponds to 9 December through 16 December 2004.
But what is Hanukkah? Is it Eight Crazy Nights? Is it the lunacy of "The Hanukkah Song?" And can we rely on Adam Sandler for a definitive and accurate portrayal of Hanukkah?
Hannukah commemorates the victory of the Maccabees (led by Judas Maccabeas) over the Hellenistic Syrians in a revolt that took place around 165 BCE ("Before the Current Era," which corresponds to our "BC").
The victory in itself was considered a miracle, but a Jewish legend gives an additional explanation for Hanukkah rituals. Once the Temple Mount in Jerusalem was reclaimed, the Temple had to be rededicated. There were allegations that the Greeks had desecrated the temple, perhaps even offering pigs there! According to one legend, only one jar of sacramental oil was found, which was only enough for one day. When this store of oil burned for eight days, a miracle was proclaimed and thus the eight days of Hanukkah.
The thing is, I don't find this eight day miracle in the books of the Maccabees! Here is the text from 1 Maccabees:
Then Judas detailed men to fight against those in the citadel until he had cleansed the sanctuary. He chose blameless priests devoted to the law, and they cleansed the sanctuary and removed the defiled stones to an unclean place. They deliberated what to do about the altar of burnt offering, which had been profaned. And they thought it best to tear it down, lest it bring reproach upon them, for the Gentiles had defiled it. So they tore down the altar, and stored the stones in a convenient place on the temple hill until there should come a prophet to tell what to do with them. Then they took unhewn stones, as the law directs, and built a new altar like the former one. They also rebuilt the sanctuary and the interior of the temple, and consecrated the courts. They made new holy vessels, and brought the lampstand, the altar of incense, and the table into the temple. Then they burned incense on the altar and lighted the lamps on the lampstand, and these gave light in the temple. They placed the bread on the table and hung up the curtains. Thus they finished all the work they had undertaken. Early in the morning on the twenty-fifth day of the ninth month, which is the month of Chislev, in the one hundred and forty-eighth year, they rose and offered sacrifice, as the law directs, on the new altar of burnt offering which they had built. At the very season and on the very day that the Gentiles had profaned it, it was dedicated with songs and harps and lutes and cymbals. All the people fell on their faces and worshiped and blessed Heaven, who had prospered them. So they celebrated the dedication of the altar for eight days, and offered burnt offerings with gladness; they offered a sacrifice of deliverance and praise. They decorated the front of the temple with golden crowns and small shields; they restored the gates and the chambers for the priests, and furnished them with doors. There was very great gladness among the people, and the reproach of the Gentiles was removed. Then Judas and his brothers and all the assembly of Israel determined that every year at that season the days of dedication of the altar should be observed with gladness and joy for eight days, beginning with the twenty-fifth day of the month of Chislev. (1 Maccabees 4:41-59)
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