Temple Rededicated: Hanukkah's Freedom After Oppression
Judas Maccabeus led his fighters into Jerusalem and rededicated the Second Temple on the 25th of Kislev, 164 BCE, three years after the Seleucid king Antiochus IV had desecrated it by erecting an altar to Zeus and sacrificing pigs on it. The Maccabean Revolt had been triggered by Antiochus's attempt to suppress Jewish religious practice, forbidding circumcision, Torah study, and Sabbath observance under penalty of death. The rededication included an eight-day celebration. The Talmud, written centuries later, adds the story of a single day's supply of consecrated oil burning for eight days, the miracle at the center of modern Hanukkah observance. The holiday celebrates religious freedom and resistance to forced assimilation. The menorah, lit for eight nights with a ninth servant candle, is now one of the most recognizable symbols in Judaism.
November 21, 164 BC
Key Figures & Places
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