This year at sundown on December 21, the eight-day observance of Hanukkah begins. The spirit of Hanukkah is the remembrance of a great miracle.
Nearly 200 years before the birth of Christ, a Hebrew tribe known as the Maccabees wanted to rededicate the temple after driving out the Greeks in a three-year struggle. However, the Maccabees only found enough oil to light their holy lamps for one day. Miraculously, the oil lasted eight days; long enough for the Maccabees to make more oil.
Today, Hanukkay is known as the Festival of Lights. The menorah, an important part of Hanukkah, has nine symbolic candles. The first acts as the "servant" candle to light the other eight. Each of the other candles is lighted each successive night, in memory of the occasion when the one-day supply of oil burned for a total of eight days. After the lighting of the candles, people exchange gifts, sing and share fellowship.
I wish all of my Jewish brothers and sisters around the world a very Happy Hanukkah. And I join them in marveling at the many blessings and miracles that God has bestowed – and continues to bestor – on us all.
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