Commonly known as the "Festival of Lights," the Jewish holiday Hanukkah is marked by lighting one candle on a nine-branched menorah for eight nights. Jewish families will come together at sundown today as they illuminate their homes and sing blessings of the first night.
But the real meaning lies in its historical significance of being the first recorded struggle for the freedom of religion in Human history.
As Rabbi Emeritus Amiel Wohl of Temple Israel of New Rochelle explains, "In 165 BC the Greek Syrians, the successors to Alexander the Great who were ruling the holy land then— ancient Israel—wanted to destroy the Jewish religion. So they placed statues of the King in the temple and forced the Jews to worship the Greek gods. The Jews resisted. Their religion was being traduced."
"If they hadn't succeeded in throwing off the tyranny of the Greeks at that point, Christianity wouldn't have been born a century and a half later," he said.
What the Hanukkah story teaches us, Rabbi Wohl said, is that "the freedoms that the U.S. has understood have to be fought for in every generation because freedom really can't be passed down."
More than 2,000 years ago, Judah Macacabee and his army celebrated a victory over Jewish persecution. After restoring their ruined temple, the Jews found only a small amount of oil with which to light the candelabra, or great menorah. It is considered a miracle that the oil burned for eight days, and this miracle is celebrated as part of the festival.
Rabbi Robert Weiner, of the Temple Beth Am in Yorktown, said Hanukkah is a home celebration where each family celebrates with a ritual, and somehow everything is connected to oil to commemorate the miracle of the tiny flask of oil.
Families will gather with friends and family, make fried potato latkes (similar to pancakes), jelly donuts (heavily made with oil), exchange gifts and play games.
Read More: Hanukkah: Festival of Lights; Home Rituals Reflect Freedoms
