Hanukkah

Hanukkah is a holiday in the religion of Judaism. Followers of Judaism are known as Jews.

Hanukkah is celebrated sometime in late November or early December.

The dates of Hanukkah are based on the Jewish calendar. Hanukkah starts on the 25th day of Kislev. Kislev is one of the months of the Jewish year. Kislev always starts in November or December.

Around 2,000 years ago, many Jews lived in a place called Judea. Judea was ruled by a Syrian-Greek king named Antiochus. Antiochus wanted the Jews to be more like the Greeks. He wanted them to pray to Greek gods and follow Greek customs.

So he made Judaism illegal. He took over the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. He told the Jews to pray to a statue of Zeus and to eat pork. Those acts are against Jewish law, and a group of Jews fought back. The rebels were called the Maccabees.

Even though the Maccabees were outnumbered, they beat the Greeks. They were able to take back the Holy Temple.

fter the Maccabees beat the Greeks, the Jews took back the Holy Temple. But they needed to make the Temple holy again. The Jews were supposed to burn special oil each night.

However, there was only enough oil for one night. It would take eight days to get more.

The Jews lit the oil. They thought it would only last one night, but it lasted for eight whole days! To the Jews, it was a miracle.