JERUSALEM, Israel – Thursday night marked the first night of Hanukkah in Israel and around the world. It’s a celebration of how the Jewish people overcame a wicked ruler and experienced a miracle of light more than two thousand years ago.
Hanukkah – also known as the Festival of Lights – commemorates the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem by Judah and the Maccabees.
At a ceremony in Jerusalem, Rabbi Eitiel Goldwicht of Aish Israel told CBN News, “We’re standing opposite the Western Wall and the Temple Mount. This is where the Second Temple stood. At that time period Jewish people were living here as the Jewish people with a Jewish Temple, and the Greek Empire was taking over the whole entire world; and they decided to impose their Hellenistic views onto the residents of Israel, saying, you must live in this Hellenistic lifestyle.”
The Greeks banned Jewish practices, and their ruler, Antiochus Epiphanes, desecrated the Temple. The outnumbered Maccabees rebelled and defeated the rulers of the known world.
The miracle of Hanukkah came when the Maccabees went to rededicate the Temple. While only one day’s supply of consecrated oil remained, it miraculously lasted for eight days.
“That’s what the Maccabees represented, Rabbi Goldwicht
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