Hanukkah celebrates both an ancient military victory and a miracle of light – modern Jews can pick from either tradition

By: Joshua Shanes, University of California, Davis, The Conversation

Outlets: The Conversation

Published: December 11, 2025

Words: 1,437

Last Updated: 1 month ago

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By Joshua Shanes, University of California, Davis

Friends and family will come together to celebrate, share gifts and eat traditional foods as the eight-day Jewish festival of Hanukkah begins on Dec. 14, 2025.

Hanukkah commemorates the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem, the center of ancient Judean worship, in 164 B.C.E. It had been defiled by the Seleucid king Antiochus IV Epiphanes and was recaptured by Judean forces. Judean culture had been transformed by Greek …

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