And they kept the eight days with gladness, as in the feast of the tabernacles, remembering that not long afore they had held the feast of the tabernacles, when as they wandered in the mountains and dens like beasts.
Therefore they bare branches, and fair boughs, and palms also, and sang psalms unto him that had given them good success in cleansing his place.
They ordained also by a common statute and decree, That every year those days should be kept of the whole nation of the Jews.
And this was the end of Antiochus, called Epiphanes.” – 2 Maccabees 10:5-9
Chanukah is Hebrew for “Dedication”. It is the Feast of Dedication, also known as the Festival of Lights.
Origin of Chanukah
In 175 BCE, the Jews in the land of Judea fell under the oppression of King Antiochus IV; also known as Antiochus Epiphanes. “Epiphanes” means “to show forth”, because claimed to be the incarnation of the Greek god Zeus. However, the Jews and other enemies of Antiochus called him “Epimanes”, which means “the madman.”
Antiochus wanted everyone in his empire to be loyal to him by ridding themselves of their own beliefs and customs, and only living by Greek culture and customs, along with worshipping only Zeus. He prohibited the Jews to observe the Sabbath and Feasts, study Torah, and other sacred practices such as circumcision. The decisive insult, Antiochus demonstrated to the Jews, was the conversion of the Temple into a pagan shrine for Zeus. He sacrificed pigs and other non-kosher animals on the altar to his god.
In 165 BCE, the Hasmoneans, under the leadership of Judah the Maccabee (Judah the Hammer), defeated the Syrian-Greek army. They recaptured the Jerusalem, cleansed the desecrated Temple, and rededicated it to the Lord.
There are a few theories of why Chanukah is celebrated for eight days. According to the Mishnah, it is because the military operation took eight days (Ta’anit 2:10). The Talmud mentions that when the Temple was recaptured, there was only enough undefiled oil for the menorah to burn for one day. But a great miracle happened, the menorah ended up burning for eight days, until there was more pure (undefiled) oil made and brought to the Temple (Shabbat 21b). Another explanation is mentioned in the Apocrypha, 1 and 2 Maccabees, when the wars were being fought, the Jews were unable to celebrate the Feast of Sukkot. After the victory over the Syrian-Greeks, on the twenty-fifth of Kislev, it was ordained to celebrate the rededication of the Temple for eight days, as a reminder of the Sukkot festival that had not been held.
The Scriptures show that the Prophet Daniel predicted the events of the Maccabean period (Daniel 8:9-14). Messiah Yeshua (Jesus) even celebrated Chanukah (John 10:22-30).
Today, Jewish families celebrate the eight day festival by lighting the Chanukiah (Chanukah menorah), reading the Chanukah story, playing dreidel, giving gifts, and eating potato latkes and other special Chanukah dishes.