In the days leading up to Christmas, let's take the time to recognize that this Sunday evening marks the first day of Hanukkah which is a holy celebration/festival for the Jews. It is held in honor of the cleansing and re-dedication of the Temple that occurred in 165 BCE after the Jews fought a three year war with the Syrian-Greeks, a war that Judah Maccabee helped to win. The Maccabees fought mostly with courage alone in a guerrilla type campaign because they were poorly armed, heavily outnumbered, hiding in the Judean hills, and attacking when they had the chance. Though under equipped in terms of arms and men, they wore down their better equipped enemy with their persistence and bravery! Then they righted what was referred to as the Abomination of Desecration of the Temple. :-)
Apparently, the oil used to light the menorah in the Temple was very special, and after the battle and the cleansing, the priests only had enough pure oil to last for the first night. The oil could only be the purest form of olive oil, and from each olive, only the first drop could be used. One batch of oil took about an entire week to make. Well, they were amazed when that little bit of oil lasted for eight solid days, the full length of the time it would take to prepare another batch! Hence, they have the lighting of the candles each night for eight days to celebrate the miracle of the Temple menorah that didn't go out and the victory of the Jews with the cleansing and re-dedication of the Temple. The Lord is amazing, indeed! And the star in the picture of the menorah above is the Star of David.
Here is one of three blessings that is said when the candles are lit. This particular blessing is said on the first night only:
Baruch ata Ado-nai, Elo-heinu Melech ha'olam, She'hecheyanu, vekiyemanu vehigi'anu laz'man hazeh
Blessed are You, Hashem our G-d, King of the universe, Who has kept us alive, sustained us, and brought us to this season.
Happy Hanukkah and Shalom for all seasons!
Mrs. Magpie (Sheila)... who prays for the continued peace of Jerusalem
16 comments:
Thanks for the reminder about the fine Jewish festival. Great to hear the history again.
Did you receive package with the nativity set?
I hope it arrived all intact.
Carrie
Hi, Carrie! Yes, I did! And I love it! I left a little note on your blog. It's going to figure in my post on Thursday! :-)
xo,
Sheila
I made a lot of Jewish friends in my travels and they are so deeply involved in tradition...I find it most honorable :)
Thank you for sharing the joyful celebrations of so many...
It is a joy to learn new things!
We ought all to pray for Israel.
Hiya Sheila...I learned something today...Thank you, ;-) Bo
Very interesting Shelia!I didn't know about the reasons for the Jewish holiday.
Diane
Good Morning, ladies -- Muse, Sally, Bo, and Diane! I had read on one of my favorite blogs that Hanukkah starts tonight, and I wanted to honor our Jewish friends with a post about this celebration.
I had studied about what was referred to as "The Abomination of Desecration" and the Maccabees who were Jewish heroes when I took Old Testament history years ago in college, but I did some more research on Hanukkah recently and thought I would post about it. I didn't know about the oil and the menorah and found that fascinating about only the first drop from each olive being used to manufacture the oil for the Temple Menorah. Can you imagine how painstaking that process must have been and how many olives it would have required? But the Lord is the Lord of miracles, and He allowed that oil to remain burning to light His Holy Temple after the cleansing! He is truly awesome! :-)
And I agree, Sally, it is critically important for us to pray for Israel. I can't remember the scripture offhand, but we are told to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. I need to remember to do that daily!
XO,
Sheila :-)
What a wonderful post! I'm certain many reading it will not know the story of Hanukkah. I grew up with lots of Jewish friends and always loved their celebrations.
Happy Hanukkah to You!
This is a wonderful and thoughtful post! Thank you. Happy Hanukkah to all of our Jewish friends. I pray that peace will come to Israel and the rest of our world.
Hi Sheila...Thanks for reminding us about Hanukkah! As Christians, we have our roots in Judaism and it is a good thing to know the history. Hope you are having a wonderful weekend...Debbie
What a lovely tribute - I learned some of this when I was younger, but had totally forgotten. I'm glad that you shared it, so I can teach my son, too. :)
I hope you are having a lovely Sunday!
P.S. Thank you for your sweet comments on the cookies! If you do decide to make them, in the frosting section of the grocery store, get a frosting tip w/a little round hole (around $1) You can still stick the tip in the corner of the baggie & poke a little hole - I did some more using a tip & it was a tad easier. :)
Hi, there -- Andi, Carol, Debbie, and Ms. Tee! So glad you enjoyed the Hanukkah post. I'm assuming the celebrants might still be celebrating as I'm typing this, and I hope they are all having a wonderful time of fellowship and celbration together.
XO,
Sheila :-)
It's so nice to see such a lovely Hanukkah post in the "blogosphere" -- that's so great of you to do! I grew up surrounded by many relgions -- believe it or not each of my grandparents was a different religion (not easy...especially in the "olden days"!) so I appreciate the different traditions since I'm a bit of a walking "melting pot" myself!
Thanks for always making my day. :-)
- Laura
Right back at you, Laura! You always make mine, too! :-)
XO,
Sheila
This is a great post! Thanks for the history. It is always important to remember these traditions and stories from generation to generation.
Thanks!
Merry Christmas!
~Liz
Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed it, Liz!
XO,
Sheila :-)
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