You all know the story of how the Makabi’s revolted against Antiochus conquered Jerusalem, plundered the riches of the Holy Temple and defiled it by making it a temple for idols. Now, we’ll talk about it more-0 and add another tale.
Tag Archives: Antiochus
The Festival of Lights
Tonight will be the first night of Chanuka, the 25th day of Kislev. For those of you who celebrate Christmas, you might recognize that number- 25. That date wasn’t chosen by accident by the first Christians. (It also explains why this is one of the few- the very few- holidays Christians celebrate on the “eve”- because it derives from the Jewish rule that a day is one evening and one morning….The others are New Year’s and Easter.)
The First of Eight!
So, it’s Chanuka.
There are plenty of stories about the holiday in the Talmud- but those were codified 400, even 500 years after the event.. We Jews have decided that the Book of Makabi (the second book is not contemporary) should not be part of our canon, but that doesn’t mean we can’t learn from contemporary accounts of the event.
The first Chanuka?
So, it’s Chanuka. Moreover, tomorrow night (Shabat) and the next day (from Friday night through Sunday at dusk) are also another holiday, the new moon (Rosh Chodesh) of Tevet.