Chanukah is the celebration of when two groups of Jews (Maccabee's & Chisadim; the Maccabee's being the group remembered more then the other) banded together and over took the Greeks in their territory. No small feat.
This time was known as the age of the 2nd Temple, Alexander the Great had conquered Egypt, Syria and Palestine, but allowed the people to keep their customs and religions, his successor did not. Antichous IV oppressed the Jews, putting Hellenistic priest in the temples, committing all kinds of atrocities.
When the Maccabee's took back the area and temple, they found the temple defiled. They found a small jar of oil that was not defiled by the Greeks. That jar held enough oil for only one night. It is custom to keep a light lit throughout the night in the temple. It would take eight days to make more oil. They burned the oil the first night. While they made more oil, and the candle stayed lit for eight days until they made the new oil.
Two main things that are remembered mainly: the fight that the Maccabees fought to keep their Faith alive, and the miracle of the Light, staying lit for eight days.
It is our Faith that will keep our Light lit for others to see God's works through us.
While Chanukah is not one of the high Holy days in Judaism, it is one of the most known to non-jews. Mostly because of it's approximately in time to Christmas.
In the Old Testament, is was told that once again the Children of God/Israel would be lead astray and that Yahweh would send His Light into the world, The Messiah, which means, God with us.
It actually tells us when this would happen. Of course back then they didn't have smart phones...everything was written in the stars.
There is a DVD called
The Star of Bethlehem. You can go to the website,
http://www.bethlehemstar.com. I have to give you a heads up, the guy who delivers the lecture is dry and comes from a religious background, but as we say...don't shoot the messenger; focus on the facts delivered in the presentation.
It's hard at times not to get caught up in the commercialism of Christmas. Also, remember its not necessarily about a religion. Jesus of Nazareth did not come to begin a new religion, no more then Christ is his last name...he was know as Jesus of Nazareth, or Jesus son of Joseph. Christ came from Christos, which was the Greek word meaning "anointed", which replaced the Hebrew word, Messiah (God with us). It was a title.
Jesus The Christ brought Light into a place of darkness. Again, there was great oppression at the time, and all the Jews knew of the coming of the Messiah. But most of the Jews wanted Jesus to free them from Roman rule, while Jesus's message was "The Kingdom of Heaven is Within", go within and find the freedom of your oppressors, and the world of duality.
During the next couple of weeks, I will go a little deeper into Chanukah and Christmas and The Light it represents.
Walk in The Light.
Happy Chanukah and a Merry Christmas to all.
Love always,
Michael
