A long time ago, in Jerusalem, there stood a beautiful, white Temple. The Jewish people came to this Temple from all over the land to pray and give thanks to God.
A wicked Hellenist king, Antiochus, ruled the land. He believed that he was god and wanted the Jewish people to bow to his idols and stop being Jews. Antiochus sent his soldiers to Jerusalem to force the Jews to bow down to the idols. The Jewish people refused.
Judah Maccabee, one of the leaders of the Jewish people, and his four brothers called many people together. "We have a right to worship God as we wish," the people said, and they decided to fight against Antiochus. "They are many and we are few," said Judah Maccabee, "even so, we will struggle to live in our own way." So the Jews went to war.
The Jewish army was small, but Judah was an excellent leader. He had spent all his life in the hills in the northern part of the country and knew where to hide his soldiers. He surprised the Hellenists again and again, often swooping down on them when they were asleep or not expecting an attach. Finally, after many years of struggle, Antiochus' soldiers were routed out of the land.
The Maccabean soldiers then marched into Jerusalem. They went straight to the Temple. But what they found made them sad. The Hellenists had dirtied everything in the Temple. So Judah and his men cleaned the Temple and made it a place they could be proud of again.
The story of the Maccabees is the first story we know of a people struggling for religious liberty.
Chanukkah, the Feast of the Maccabees, celebrates a victory-not a military victory only, but a victory also of the spirit over things material. Not a victory only over external enemies-the Greeks; but a victory also over more dangerous internal enemies. A victory of the many over the ease-loving, safety-playing, privileged, powerful few, who in their pliancy would have betrayed the best interests of the people, a victory of democracy over aristocracy. As part of the eternal world-wide struggle for democracy, the struggle of the Maccabees is of eternal world-wide interest. It is a struggle of the Jews of today as well as those of two thousand years ago. It is a struggle in which all Americans, non-Jews as well as Jews, should be vitally interested because they are vitally affected. The Maccabees' victory proved that the Jews-then already an old people-possessed the secret of eternal youth: the ability to rejuvenate itself through courage, hope, enthusiasm, devotion and self-sacrifice of the plain people. This will bring again a Jewish Renaissance.
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Many years later the story was told that when the Maccabees decided to light the Menorah, the seven-branched candle holder that stood in the Temple, they looked everywhere for the special oil that was needed to light the Menorah. They found only one small container, just enough for one night. To everyone's great surprise, the oil burned for eight days and eight nights. And that is why we celebrate Chanukkah for eight days and eight nights. We light the candles, we sing songs, we play games with dreidels, we eat latkes, we have a Chanukkah party, and we get presents.