What is Hanukkah?

Hanukkah / Chanukah (the Festival of Lights)

This 8-day holiday commemorates the rededication of the 2nd Jewish temple in Jerusalem. In 168, the Jewish Temple was taken over by the Syrian-Greeks and spiritually defiled by the worship of other gods.

When the Jewish people regained control of the Temple in 165 BC, they attempted to purify the Temple by burning ritual oil for 8 days. Unfortunately, there was only enough oil in left in the Temple for one day. When they lit the menorah, it burned for 8 days on one day’s worth of oil.

The festival of lights celebrates the miracle of the purifying oil.

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Upcoming dates: Dec 6 2015, Dec 24 2016, Dec 12 2017, Dec 2 2018 , Dec 22 2019, Dec 10 2020, Dec 28 2021, Dec 18 2022

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Scriptures Read on this Holiday

Torah reading: Numbers 7:1 – 8:4, 28:1-15

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Worth Noting

There will be a 7-year treaty which allows the Jewish Temple to be rebuilt on the Temple Mount. This will be the 3rd Jewish Temple. It will be built during the first half of the 7-year treaty. (Daniel 9: 27)

It is likely that the dedication of the 3rd Temple will correlate with the holiday associated with the rededication of the 2nd Temple: Hanukkah.