Hanukkah is a traditional eight-day festival of the Jewish people. The festival begins on the 25th day of the month Kislev, which can fall anytime between November and late December. Hanukkah is also called the Festival of Lights. Hanukka in Hebrew means “offering”, marking the day the Jewish people reclaimed Jerusalem and the Sacred Temple from the Seleucid kingdom in 168 BC.

Happy HANUKKOMG Premium SS T-Shirt

According to the Torah, after capturing Jerusalem, King Seleucus Antiochos IV Epiphanes outlawed Judaism, and erected statues of Greek gods outside the Sacred Temple of Jerusalem. After the victory of the hero Maccabees in the Maccabee Rebellion, Jerusalem was reclaimed and the Temple was dedicated. According to legend, the Jews built a large pillar containing olive oil inside to rekindle the eternal fire here, but people could not find enough clean oil to put in that lamppost, but due to a miracle, the fire burned. Burned continuously for 8 days straight. Therefore, the Festival of Lights is held along with the traditional candle lighting ceremony. Eight candles are placed on a candle table called a Menorah. Every day people burn out one candle and the Festival ends when the eighth candle is burned out.