Candle #1

Tonight (at sundown) begins the wonderful celebration of Hanukkah.  We have eight days of lighting candles and remembering the miracle God performed... but before I get ahead of myself, I'll start at the beginning.

Judea was part of Egypt until 200 BCE when King Antiochus III the Great of Syria defeated King Ptolemy V Epiphanes of Egypt. Judea became part of Syria and King Antiochus III the Great, wanting to conciliate his new Jewish subjects, guaranteed their right to "live according to their ancestral customs" and to continue to practice their religion in the Temple of Jerusalem. However in 175 BCE, Antiochus IV Epiphanes, the son of Antiochus III invaded Judea, ostensibly at the request of the sons of Tobias.

The Tobiads, who led the Hellenizing Jewish faction in Jerusalem, were expelled to Syria around 170 BCE when the high priest Onias and his pro-Egyptian faction wrested control from them. The exiled Tobiads lobbied Antiochus IV Epiphanes to recapture Jerusalem. 

When the second temple in Jerusalem was looted and services stopped, Judaism was outlawed.  In 167 BCE Antiochus ordered an altar to Zeus erected in the Temple. He banned circumcision and ordered pigs to be sacrificed at the altar of the temple. Antiochus's actions provoked a large-scale revolt.

Mattityahu, a Jewish priest, and his five sons led a rebellion against Antiochus. By 165 BCE the Jewish revolt against the Seleucid monarchy was successful. The Temple was liberated and rededicated.

The festival of Hanukkah was instituted to celebrate this event.  Judah, one of Mattityahu's sons, ordered the Temple to be cleansed, a new altar to be built in place of the polluted one and new holy vessels to be made. According to the Talmud, olive oil was needed for the menorah in the Temple, which was required to burn throughout the night every night. The story goes that there was only enough oil to burn for one day, yet it burned for eight days, the time needed to prepare a fresh supply of oil for the menorah. An eight day festival was declared by the Jewish sages to commemorate this miracle.

Many people see a menorah (seven candles), used in the Temple, and think of Hanukah.  But the one used for our yearly celebration is called a Hanukkiah and it holds nine candles.  Eight are in one level (one for each day of celebration) and one is either off-set or raised up, and it is the Shamesh ("Servant Candle") and is used to light the other candles.

Tonight we will be lighting the Shamesh and day 1 will commence our eight days of remembrance.

For this evening, we will be lighting our Hanukkah menorah as you see below and I will explain to my children that this first candle (not the Shamesh, which represents Jesus) stands for the "One True God".

 "Hear, O Israel!

The Lord is our God, the Lord is One!

And you shall love the Lord your God

with all your heart and with all your soul

and with all your might."

Deuteronomy 6:4-5