sorry for the boo-boo on last entry on happy hanukkah (which i removed)! thanks to peng shyang who pointed it out to me. it is not that i didn't know, i guess it was probably i was too busy preparing to go to teach the TEE course the next day that i was not even aware of what i was writing!
hanukkah is of course the feast of lights or dedication. it was to commemorate the restoration and cleansing of the Jerusalem temple after it was defiled by Antiochus Epiphanes IV when he sacrificed a pig on the altar. this started the maccabean revolt which lasted about 5 years (168-63 BC). when the seleucids finally left palestine and gave the rule back to the jews. the first thing they did was to remove and replace the defiled altar. the Temple was cleansed and hanukkah came to be observed.
hanukkah is of course the feast of lights or dedication. it was to commemorate the restoration and cleansing of the Jerusalem temple after it was defiled by Antiochus Epiphanes IV when he sacrificed a pig on the altar. this started the maccabean revolt which lasted about 5 years (168-63 BC). when the seleucids finally left palestine and gave the rule back to the jews. the first thing they did was to remove and replace the defiled altar. the Temple was cleansed and hanukkah came to be observed.
Comments
I think you might make a mistake on this post. Hannukah should be the Jewish festival of rededication of the temple, also known as the festival of lights, is an eight day festival beginning on the 25th day of the Jewish month of Kislev.
What you explained in the post should be Purim, right? Pls correct me if I'm wrong. Thanks.