167–164 BCE

The Maccabean revolt and the first Hanukkah

Jewish rebels led by Judah Maccabee resist a Greek king's ban on Judaism and rededicate the Temple, the origin of Hanukkah.

From the Maccabees to the Mishnah — Shaye J. D. Cohen, Westminster Press (1987)
Jewish People, Jewish Thought: The Jewish Experience in History — Robert M. Seltzer, Macmillan (1980)
Jewish Literacy: The Most Important Things to Know About the Jewish Religion, Its People, and Its History — Joseph Telushkin, William Morrow (1991)

Well established faithwaridentity

In 167 BCE the Seleucid Greek king Antiochus IV banned circumcision, Sabbath observance and Torah study in Judea and set up a pagan altar in the Temple. A priest named Mattathias and his sons, led by Judah “the Maccabee” (probably “the hammer”), began a guerrilla revolt and in 164 BCE retook Jerusalem and rededicated the Temple.

From the Maccabees to the Mishnah — Shaye J. D. Cohen, Westminster Press (1987)
Jewish People, Jewish Thought: The Jewish Experience in History — Robert M. Seltzer, Macmillan (1980)

Hanukkah means “dedication”. The famous story of one day’s oil burning for eight days appears only centuries later, in the Talmud. The Maccabees’ descendants, the Hasmoneans, ruled an independent Jewish state until Rome took control in 63 BCE.

Jewish Literacy: The Most Important Things to Know About the Jewish Religion, Its People, and Its History — Joseph Telushkin, William Morrow (1991)
From the Maccabees to the Mishnah — Shaye J. D. Cohen, Westminster Press (1987)

Why it matters today

Jewish people

Hanukkah, with its eight nights of candles, celebrates the right to be different: a small people refusing to give up its faith under pressure to assimilate. It is a minor festival religiously, but one of the best loved, especially by families with children.