Chanukkah is a Jewish holiday (or more accurately 1.1 holiweeks, since it lasts eight days) that starts on the 25th of the Hebrew month of Kislev and celebrates the military victory by the Hasmoneans over the Syrian Greeks in 164 BCE, and the Jerusalem Temple’s rededication under the Hasmoneans. Quoting Prof. Eyal Regev:

One important reason for promoting its celebration years after the purification of the altar was to celebrate and commemorate the Maccabees’ achievement and to support their successors, the Hasmoneans. The fact that the Maccabees, their followers and successors, encouraged Chanukah’s celebration in the two epistles, shows that Chanukah also had political significance.

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Chanukah, which celebrates the rededication of the Temple under the Hasmoneans, would have been an effective political tool to reinforce Hasmonean government, since it was celebrated in the Temple and probably also in many Jewish houses.^[9] It strengthened Hasmonean authority and was a kind of Hasmonean Independence Day also representing their collective identity.^[10]

Chanukah was also helpful in constructing the Jewish social memory about the Maccabees’ achievements.^[11] It was one of several festivals that the Maccabees instituted in order to commemorate their military victories for the coming generations. Additional festivals that served this role are the Day of Nicanor (13 in Adar; 1 Macc 7:48–49; 2 Macc 15:36),^[12] and Hakra Day, a day of the removal of the citadel (hakra) in Jerusalem, the last remnant of gentile oppression (1 Macc 13:49–52). These three festivals stressed Hasmonean authority and rule.^[13] Indeed, Chanukah became a holiday due to the intersection of its religious, Temple focus, with the political needs of the Hasmonean leaders who established it.

My memories aren’t as clear now that I’m an adult, but Chanukkah might well have been either my introduction to Judaism, or what interested me in it. I vaguely remember the feeling of fascination when I saw those bizarre and mysterious symbols on the dreidel. What strange looking symbols! It was my first exposure to the alephbet and was what eventually lead me to (briefly) studying Hebrew.

Being a gentile and lacking Jewish friends in my locale, I am disappointed to say that I cannot take part in the celebration, but the tale of resistance against overwhelming odds can easily resonate with many gentiles today, especially Palestinian ones. Just as the Maccabees could not give up their independence so easily, neither can the lower classes of the world.

Have a great Chanukah!