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SUBJECT: Hannukah
QUESTION: Why doesn’t the ICG keep Hannukah?
ANSWER:
Nowhere in the Bible does it command the keeping of
Hannukah. The following is from a Jewish Glossary:
Hannukah:
Feast day instituted by the Maccabees to commemorate the
purification and rededication of the temple in Jerusalem
after Maccabean revolt and the expulsion of the Seleucids
from Jerusalem in 164 B.C.
Here is something from another source:
Hanukah
Hanukkah, which means "dedication" and is also referred to
as "The Festival of Lights", is a Jewish festival, which
begins on the Hebrew date of the 25th of Kislev and lasts
eight days, through the 2nd of Tevet. This year, that
corresponds to December 4th through December 11th. Hannukah
commemorates the victory of the Maccabees (led
by Judah) over the Hellenistic Syrians in a
revolt that took place around 165 BCE (note:
Jews use BCE--Before the Common Era and CE--the Common Era
instead of BC and AD).
The victory in itself was considered a miracle, but Jewish
legend gives an additional explanation for Hanukkah rituals,
explained below. Once the Temple Mount in Jerusalem had been
reclaimed, the Temple had to be rededicated. According to
legend, only one jar of sacramental oil was found, enough
for one day. Miraculously, the oil burned for eight days,
thus the eight days of Hanukkah.
The most important Hanukkah ritual is the candle lighting.
Jews light candles in a special candleholder called a
"menorah" or a "hanukkiah". Each night, one more candle is
added. The middle candle, called the "shamash", is used to
light each of the other candles and it is lit every night.
Therefore, on the first night of Hanukkah, two candles are
lit (the shamash and the
candle for the first night) and on the last
night, there are nine lit candles.
It is traditional to eat foods fried in oil during Hanukkah.
Some common foods are potato latkes and "sufganiot" (jelly
doughnuts).
As you can see, this holiday is something established by men
and not God. It is clearly not anything established or
commanded by God.
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