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Hanukkah, the Jewish Festival of Lights, begins. Here's the history
LOS ANGELES (KTLA) – Jews around the world are marking the start of Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights, which celebrates the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem in the second century B.C. after it was defiled by Syrian Greeks.
This eight-day holiday starts on the 25th of Kislev in the Hebrew calendar, usually falling in December. In 2024, Hanukkah begins at sundown on December 25 and ends at sundown on January 2, 2025.
The story of Hanukkah begins in 168 B.C. when the Seleucid king Antiochus IV Epiphanes banned Jewish religious practices and desecrated the Second Temple by setting up an altar to Zeus and sacrificing pigs.
This led to a revolt led by the Jewish priest Mattathias and his five sons, known as the Maccabees.
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Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, top left, with others including Rabbi Abraham Shemtov and Rabbi Levi Shemtov, light the National Menorah in celebration of the first night of Hanukkah, during an event sponsored by the American Friends of Lubavitch, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024, on The Ellipse in Washington. The eight-day Jewish holiday began at sundown and this year coincided with Christmas Day. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) -
Rabbi Yehuda Teichtal, left, and Rabbi Shmuel Segal, right, dance in front of a giant Hanukkah Menorah, after it was set up by the Jewish Chabad Educational Center ahead of the Jewish Hanukkah holiday, in front of the Brandenburg Gate at the Pariser Platz in Berlin, Germany, Monday, Dec. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber) -
People leave the National Menorah Lighting, an event sponsored by the American Friends of Lubavitch, on The Ellipse in Washington, on the first night of Hanukkah, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024. The eight-day Jewish holiday began at sundown and coincided this year with Christmas Day. At center is the White House, with the National Christmas Tree at right. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
The Seleucid Empire, one of the successor states of Alexander the Great’s empire, was vast and powerful.
Judah Maccabee, one of Mattathias’s sons, and his followers fought a guerrilla war against the Seleucids.
Despite being vastly outnumbered, the Maccabees won several battles and eventually took back Jerusalem. When they reclaimed the Temple, they found only a small amount of oil left to light the menorah, the Temple’s candelabrum. The oil, believed to only be enough for one day, lasted for eight days.
This ancient miracle is the basis of Hanukkah, which means “dedication” in Hebrew.
Jews celebrate the holiday by lighting the menorah, with one more candle lit each night until all eight are lit on the final night. Traditional foods like latkes (potato pancakes) and sufganiyot (jelly-filled doughnuts) are fried in oil, symbolizing the miracle of the oil.
Other customs include playing the game of dreidle and exchanging gifts.
Although Hanukkah is not as religiously significant as holidays such as Passover or Yom Kippur, it holds a special place in Jewish culture as a reminder of the Jewish people’s resilience and faith in the face of oppression.