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Global Voice Magazine
HA N U K K A H T H E F E S T I VA L OF LIGHTS CINDY C OHEN “ The miracle, of course, was not that the oil for the sacred light - in a little cruse - lasted as long as the y say ; but that the courage of the Maccabees lasted to this day : let that nourish m y f l i c k e r i n g s p i r i t .” — C h a r l e s R e z n i k o f f , “Me d i t a t i o n s o n t h e F a l l a n d Wi n t e r Ho l i d a y s” Historically Hanuk kah recalls the first fight for religious freedom. The stor y of Hanuk kah is the ageold struggle of the Jewish people to remain Jewish in a non-Je wish world. Hanukkah commemorates the v i c t o r y o f Ju d a h M a c c a b e e and his followers over the forces of the Syrian tyrant Antio chus Epiphanes and the rededication of the
Te m p l e o f J e r u s a l e m w h i c h the Syrians had profaned. The practice of Jewish rituals such as the Sabbath and circumcision were outlawed. The worship of Syrian-Greek Gods and the sacrifice of pigs replaced the traditional worship at the temple. One day the Greeks came t o t h e v i l l a g e o f Mo d i i n a n d s e t u p a n a l t a r. T h e y c o m mended the Jews to bring a pig as a sacrifice to show obedience to Antiochus decree, Mattathias, and old priest, was so enraged when he saw the Jew about to do so (sacrifice the pig) that h e k i l l e d h i m . He a n d h i s five sons then fought the G r e e k a r m y, r e t r e a t e d t o the mountains, and began
a guerrilla war against the Greeks and their Jewish allies. Before he died of old age, Mattathias passed on the leadership to his son Ju d a h k n o w n a s M a c c a b e e ( m e a n i n g H a m m e r ) . Ju dah led his forces against a series of armies sent by Antiochus, and through superior strateg y and braver y he defeated them all. Fin a l l y, h e a n d h i s f o l l o w e r s liberated Jerusalem and rec l a i m e d t h e Te m p l e f r o m i t s defilement by the Greeks. T h e Ta l m u d ( c o m p i l e d over seven centuries) later records the army could f ind only one small vessel of oil, e n o u g h t o l a s t o n e d a y, b u t w h e n t h e y l i t t h e Te m p l e menorah with it, a miracle occurred, and the menorah
