ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, December 5, 1996 TAG: 9612100161
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: N-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CODY LOWE STAFF WRITER
The Jewish holiday of Hanukkah dates back to events that happened more than a century and a half before the birth of Jesus of Nazareth.
At that time, Antiochus, the emperor of Syria, was attempting to wipe out Judaism and prohibited Jews - on pain of death - from worshiping.
Antiochus' troops killed many - including children who were circumcised and their parents. They desecrated the Temple in Jerusalem, even slaughtering pigs for sacrifices within its walls.
About 167 B.C., a Jew named Mattathias, along with his sons, started a revolt that eventually led to the ousting of the Syrians and recapture of the Temple.
Since the Temple had been desecrated, it had to be purified according to Jewish ritual. That included the lighting of a lamp, fueled by purified olive oil.
Unfortunately, there was only enough oil to burn for one day - and it would require eight days to complete the process of purifying more oil.
Miraculously, however, the small quantity of purified oil burned the full eight days.
To commemorate the miracle, Jews continue to celebrate the retaking of the Temple and the eight days of light with the holiday called Hanukkah.
Celebrated in the home, the holiday includes the use of a special nine-candle menorah. The center candle is used to light the others progressively through the period. The first night, one candle is lighted; the second night, two candles; and so on.
The lights are to be placed near a window so those outside can see and remember the miracle of the oil.
It is customary in America for children to be given a small gift on each of the eight days of the holiday.
Potato pancakes - called latkes - are fried as a treat for the season; and children play a game with a four-sided top called a dreidle.
What was once a relatively minor Jewish holiday has become the third most-widely observed in American Judaism - behind Passover and Yom Kippur, largely because of its proximity to Christmas. Many Jewish families emphasize the holiday to counterbalance the overwhelmingly Christian themes of the season of Christmas.
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