Karlis, on 09 December 2012 - 12:56 PM, said:
Hanukkah, the Jewish holiday also known as the Festival of Lights
The celebration began Saturday night with the lighting of the menorah, which consists of eight candle branches with an additional raised branch. The world over, the Jewish people will be observing the eight-day holiday that commemorates the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem during the Maccabean revolt that overthrew the Seleucid monarchy in 167 BCE.
Each night, candles are lit on the menorah to recall the miracle of how a single day’s worth of ritual olive oil lasted eight days and nights when the Maccabees purified the temple, which had been profaned with pig sacrifices and pagan rituals during Seleucid rule.
The eight days was significant because that was how long it took to prepare new oil for the temple’s rites of worship.
Source
Hanukkah Quotes: 8 Inspirational Sayings About The Miracle Of Light
Photo illustrations and quotes here
Hanukkah which is also called the Feast of Dedication for the reason you wrote above, is fittingly the day Jesus was born. For when Jesus came He cleaned up the burden of the Law and started a new thing, the New Testament church. The Bible says Jesus observed this Feast of Dedication by going to the temple AND IT WAS WINTER. The solstice or first day of winter is always close to December 25th. Usually 3 or 4 days before December 25th. Four times in the past 100 years the first day of Hanukkah has occurred on December 25. Many more years, Hanukkah has occurred on one of the eight days on December 25th.
It is one of two holy days in which God did not REQUIRE the Israelites to go to the Jerusalem temple. They could observe it voluntarily anywhere they wanted. That would have given Joseph and Mary the freedom to travel to Bethlehem where Jesus was born on December 25 --- our Feast of Dedication.
God bless us all is my prayer.
Edited by Copen, 13 December 2012 - 02:52 AM.
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