Hanuka
Submitted by on January 1, 1998
Category: Religion
Words: 239 | Pages: 1
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Hanukkah or Chanukah
(Hebrew for “dedication”), annual festival of the Jews
celebrated on eight successive days. It begins on the 25th day of
Kislev, the third month of the Jewish calendar, corresponding,
approximately, to December in the Gregorian calendar. Also known as the
Festival of Lights, Feast of Dedication, and Feast of the Maccabees,
Hanukkah commemorates the rededication of the Temple of Jerusalem by
Judas Maccabee in 165 BC after the temple had been profaned by Antiochus
IV Epiphanes, king of Syria and overlord of Palestine. In 168 BC, on a
date corresponding approximately to December 25 in the Gregorian
calendar, the temple was dedicated to the worship of Zeus Olympius by
order of Antiochus. An altar to Zeus was set up on the high altar. When
Judas Maccabee recaptured Jerusalem...