Importance of Chanukah/Hanukkah

The Origins and Importance of Chanukah 

Chanukah, also called Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights, or the Feast of Dedication, is celebrated on the 25th day of Kislev. This year Chanukah began the evening of Sunday, December 14, 2025.  This festival is an eight-day celebration, and this year it culminated on Monday, December 22, 2025. 

Chanukah is not mentioned in Leviticus 23 as a festival of the Most High; however, the festival is mentioned in John 10:22 cjb. The historical events of Hanukkah are found in the Apocrypha/Deuterocanonical Books of 1 & 2 Maccabees and take place in the 2nd century BCE in the Intertestamental Period, the ~400-year period (400 BCE and 1st century AD) between the Old and New Testaments. 

In 167 BCE, the Maccabees, led by Mattathias and his sons, who refused to abandon the commandments of G-d, revolted with a small army of men. Over the next few years, the battle ensued. In 164 BCE, the outmanned group of soldiers, now led by Judah, one of Mattathias' sons, after the death of Mattathias, was victorious over the Seleucid Greek army, ruled by Antiochus Epiphanes, bringing liberation to Jerusalem and the Jewish People after years of oppression and prohibition from worshiping the Most High. Historically, the Hasmonean Dynasty (the ruling family of Jewish priests and kings after the Maccabean revolt) was established, and the battle for full independence continued well into ~140 BCE; however, Jerusalem and the Holy Temple had now been recaptured. This victory of a few faithful Jewish men over the Seleucid/Greek army was a great miracle; the Most High had given Israel a great deliverance, and now restoration of worship was paramount. 

 1 Maccabees 4:41-59 NRSVU recounts the restoration of the Temple and how Chanukah began:

"Then Judas detailed men to fight against those in the citadel until he had cleansed the sanctuary. He chose blameless priests devoted to the law, and they cleansed the sanctuary and removed the defiled stones to an unclean place. They deliberated what to do about the altar of burnt offering, which had been profaned. And they thought it best to tear it down, so that it would not be a lasting shame to them that the nations had defiled it. So they tore down the altar and stored the stones in a convenient place on the temple hill until a prophet should come to tell what to do with them. Then they took unhewn stones, as the law directs, and built a new altar like the former one. They also rebuilt the sanctuary and the interior of the temple and consecrated the courts. They made new holy vessels and brought the lampstand, the altar of incense, and the table into the temple. Then they offered incense on the altar and lit the lamps on the lampstand, and these gave light in the temple. They placed the bread on the table and hung up the curtains. Thus, they finished all the work they had undertaken. Early in the morning on the twenty-fifth day of the ninth month, which is the month of Chislev, in the one hundred forty-eighth year, they rose and offered sacrifice, as the law directs, on the new altar of burnt offering that they had built. At the very season and on the very day that the nations had profaned it, it was dedicated with songs and harps and lutes and cymbals. All the people fell on their faces and worshiped and blessed heaven, who had prospered them. So they celebrated the dedication of the altar for eight days and joyfully offered burnt offerings; they offered a sacrifice of well-being and a thanksgiving offering. They decorated the front of the temple with golden crowns and small shields; they restored the gates and the chambers for the priests and fitted them with doors. There was great joy among the people, and the disgrace brought by the nations was removed. Then Judas and his brothers and all the assembly of Israel determined that every year at that season the days of dedication of the altar should be observed with joy and gladness for eight days, beginning with the twenty-fifth day of the month of Chislev.”

Similarly, 2 Maccabees 10:5-8 NRSVU states, 

“It happened that on the same day on which the sanctuary had been profaned by the foreigners, the purification of the sanctuary took place, that is, on the twenty-fifth day of the same month, which was Chislev. They celebrated it for eight days with rejoicing, in the manner of the Festival of Booths, remembering how not long before, during the Festival of Booths, they had been wandering in the mountains and caves like wild animals. Therefore, carrying ivy-wreathed wands and beautiful branches and also palm fronds, they offered hymns of thanksgiving to him who had given success to the purifying of his own holy place. They decreed by public edict, ratified by vote, that the whole nation of the Jews should observe these days every year.”

The Babylonian Talmud Shabbat 21b purports another Chanukah miracle story, and it states: “On the twenty-fifth of Kislev, the days of Hanukkah are eight…And there was sufficient oil there to light the candelabrum for only one day. A miracle occurred, and they lit the candelabrum from it for eight days.” 

Many believe the events leading to the Maccabean Revolt and Chanukah, especially the desecration of the Temple known as the Abomination of Desolation, had been prophesied in Daniel 9:27, 11:31, and 12:11. Yeshua warned of a similar event, the Abomination of Desolation (Devastation), coming in Matthew 24:15-51 cjb and will be a precursor to His return as the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with tremendous power and glory. As believers in the Most High, we must always be ready, for the Son of Man will come when we are not expecting Him. Moreover, Yeshua, in Matthew 24:12 cjb, warned that as we approach the end, “many people’s love will grow cold because of increased distance from Torah.” It is crucial to see the parallel between the time of the Maccabees and today, the direction we are heading, when the truth of the Most High and His commandments are still required of His children, yet are becoming contrary to “pop culture.” The Messiah will return for those who have remained faithful to the covenant and commandments of G-d.

Chanukah and the acts of the Maccabean revolt are crucial to every believer in the Messiah Yeshua. As mentioned earlier, in John 10:22 cjb, Yeshua, who we know is the light of the world (John 8:12, 12:46), was in the Temple during Hanukkah/Festival of Dedication. He was sharing the truth that He was the Messiah and doing the works of His Father. As believers, we should follow Yeshua’s example and do the works of the Father, and as Matthew 5:16 commands, we should “let our lights shine before people so that they may see the good things we do and praise our Father in heaven.” It is through our faith in Yeshua that we, too, must be lights shining in the darkness of these last days, cf. Philippians 2:15-17.  

A fully lit hanukkiah reflects the beauty of light shining in darkness and the glory and majesty of the Servant Candle as it ignites the others. As believers in the Most High, we are reminded in 1 Corinthians 3:16 that we are the Temple and that His Spirit dwells in us. Throughout Scripture, the Holy Spirit is often symbolized by oil and represents G-d’s presence, anointing, consecration, and divine light. Each time we see the candles burning, we are reminded that we are “the Holy Temple” in which the Most High dwells. 

The love of G-d is revealed to us through Yeshua the Messiah, who redeems and restores us. He is the light that brings light to us. As the author and finisher of our faith, the Messiah devoted His life to the work and will of His Father. In the same way, we are called to dedicate our lives to the purpose for which we were created—to bring light into darkness. Just as the Maccabees rededicated the restored temple to G-d, this season of the Festival of Lights invites us to pause and rededicate our own temples to the Most High. 

Chanukah 2025 reminded us to reflect on the faithfulness of the Maccabees, the miracles of the Most High that abound during Hanukkah, the Messiah who is the light of the world, and our clarion call to be lights and let our light so shine that men can see the Messiah in us. 

 ~Shalom Aleichem, Ephraim