Hanukkah - The Little Light That Kept Burning

Hanukkah - The Little Light That Kept Burning

This is the story of how we got the festival of Hanukkah. A long time ago, in the land of Israel, Jewish children ran through fields of wheat, climbed olive trees, and went with their parents to the Beit Hamikdash, the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. They brought gifts for Hashem and watched the shining Menorah glow with holy light. But one day, strange soldiers marched into their cities. They wore different clothes and spoke a different language. Their flags had symbols no one had seen before. “Who are they?” the children asked. “They are the Syrian-Greeks,” the parents answered quietly. “Their king rules over our land now.” At first, one of the kings, named Antiochus III, was not so bad. He let the Jews keep their Torah and mitzvot. But after he fought a war with Rome and lost, he had to pay a lot of money. So life got harder, and the people had to pay many taxes. After he died, another king came—and then another. The last one was called Antiochus IV. He called himself “Epiphanes” (which means “the gods’ beloved”), but many people secretly called him “the madman” because he was cruel and unfair. He took away all that was Jewish and put idols in the temple. The Maccabees could take it no more and rebelled. A war ensued and Israel became victorious. They then cleaned up the temple but only had enough oil to put in the menorah for one day. The miracle happened when the oil lasted for 8 days.