Sacrifice, Fire, and the Victory of the Sun: A Search for the Origins of Hanukkah*

Hanukkah is the Jewish festival celebrated for eight days between the 25th of Kislev and the 2nd of Tevet, which usually fall in the month of December. There are three elements in the Jewish traditions surrounding Hanukkah. The first is the nationalist tradition, emanating from the story of the rebellion against the Syrians. The second is the religious motif of the sanctity of the Temple and the victory of religious traditions. The third element is the Festival of Lights that is the basis for Hanukkah's major ritual—the lighting of candles. Hanukkah literally means dedication and is celebrated, according to Jewish tradition, to commemorate the rededication and the purification of the Temple, following the victory of the Maccabees over the Hellenized Syrians under Antiochus IV. The book of Maccabees gives the 25th of Kislev as the date of the rededication of the Temple in newly liberated Jerusalem and, three years earlier, as the date on which sacrifice was offered to the idols on the Temple's altar, ten days after the “abomination of desolation” was set up in the Temple. Thus this date has much historical significance, the Temple being purified on the same date as that on which it was totally desecrated. The ceremonial lighting of candles takes place in the evening. One candle is lighted on the first night, with a special candle serving as the lighter, or shamash. An additional candle is lighted each evening of Hanukkah, until on the eighth day the full number of eight plus the shamash have been lit. The candles rest in