Story of Hanukkah? - Mocomi Kids

Hanukkah

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Hanukkah

Hanukkah, the Jewish festival of light, is an eight day celebra-tion of the re-dedication of the Jewish holy temple in Jerusa-lem in the 2nd century BC.


Hanukkah

The festival lasts for eight days and nights. Since its date is set by the Jewish cal-endar it could fall anywhere between late November and late December.


Hanukkah

In 167 BC Antiochus IV looted the Jewish temple in Jerusalem and stopped all religious services there. He also ordered that a statue of Zeus be placed upon the altar within the temple and that pigs, which are considered unholy by Jews, be sacri�ced upon this altar. These actions cre-ated a large-scale revolt against the Roman au-thority led by Mattathias, a Jewish priest and his 5 sons. This is known as the Maccabee revolt.


Hanukkah

After the Maccabee revolt ended the temple was reclaimed and restored. Judah, who was the head of the revolt, ordered that the temple be cleansed before it was rededicated. According to tradition, there was only enough oil to light the lamp inside the temple for 1 day.


Hanukkah

However the lamp remained lit for eight consecutive days until new oil was acquired, thereby marking the 8 days of Hanukkah.


Hanukkah

Project : Judaism is one of the most ancient religions in the world, however their history has been largely concentrated to the middle-east and Europe. What can you learn about the Jewish community in India?

Hanukkah is celebrated by a series of candle-lighting rituals every night for the duration of the festival. A special candlestick called a meno-rah is used during this occasion. The menorah has slots for nine candles, one for every day of the feast and an extra one called a shamash.

Since tradition states that light from the meno-rah candles cannot be taken, the shamash is lit �rst and then used to light the other candles on the menorah. The menorah is not lit for illumina-tion purposes but as a mark to remind people of the miracle of the Hanukkah. This is why meno-rahs are placed where a passerby may look into the house and ‘remember’.

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Story of Hanukkah? - Mocomi Kids