Happy Hanukkah, Curbly!

By Chrisjob

Hanukkah, meaning "dedication" or "the consecrating", started last night at sundown.

Here's a brief version of the Hanukkah Story to make your brainsponges a little more soaked...

The reign of Antiochus IV, also called Antiochus Epiphanes, was a particularly nasty one, especially for the Israelites living in Judea. His forced Hellenization (the influence of Greek megaculture) of Jews was extreme and too often violent. Though their numbers were small, the Jews of Judea decided to take up arms against the Seleucid armies (those of Antiochus IV) to protect their cultural identity, religious traditions, and the safety and maintaining of their people. This group was led by Matthias Hasmoneanus, or Matisyahu the Hasmonean, and called the Maccabees, after Matthias' son and successor, Judas Macabeeus.

In 165 B.C.E., after three years of fighting, the Macabees reclaimed Mount Moriah, and the Jerusalem temple was liberated and able to be rededicated. In the temple, the Macabees only found enough oil for one day, yet miraculously, the lamps continued to burn for eight days.