Portland, Oregon Church  -  Affiliated with the Intercontinental Church of God and the Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association

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.

Portland, Oregon Church  -  Affiliated with the Intercontinental Church of God and the Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association