Hanukkah: A Celebration of LightНамуна

Hanukkah: The Festival of Lights

During the darkest time of the year, when the days are short and the nights long, we celebrate Hanukkah, a festival of light. It commemorates events that occurred during dark days for the nation of Israel, but God brought about salvation which culminated with a miracle of light.

In the second century BCE, the Greeks controlled and oppressed the Jews in Israel. They sought to destroy the Jewish people by outlawing the most essential Jewish practices and encouraging complete assimilation. The Greeks believed that they were enlightened and maintained that the Jews who followed the Bible were stuck in irrelevant rituals of the past.

When the fighters arrived at the Temple, they were saddened to find it desecrated and in shambles. They cleaned it up, removed the idols, and re-dedicated it on the 25th day of the Hebrew month of Kislev. Hanukkah means “dedication” and recalls both this re-dedication of the Temple and the devoted dedication of the Jewish fighters.

When it came time to light the menorah, the Temple lampstand, the Jews could only find one jar of pure olive oil that was still sealed with the high priest's name. The Jews decided to light the menorah anyway, and miraculously, the oil lasted for eight days until more oil arrived. Today, we commemorate this miracle by lighting our own menorahs for eight nights.

While the main miracle of Hanukkah, the miracle of the oil that lasted beyond one day, is directly connected to light, the celebration of light goes beyond remembering past events. Light and darkness symbolize the entire Hanukkah story and serve as the basis for the eternal lessons that can be learned from this rich holiday.

In this Fellowship Study, we will discover the deeper meanings of darkness and light. As we literally brighten the darkest time of the year, we will uncover God’s power and our abilities through Him to bring illumination anywhere or anytime darkness threatens to obscure the light.