Hanukkah: Feast of Dedication

BY RICHARD SISON | 2017

INTRODUCTION
The name "Hanukkah" derives from the Hebrew verb "חנך", meaning “to dedicate".

Ḥanukkah is a Jewish holiday commemorating the rededication of the Holy Temple (the Second Temple) in Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire. Hanukkah is observed for eight nights and days, starting on the 25th day of Kislev according to the Hebrew calendar. It is also known as the Festival of Lights and the Feast of Dedication.

The festival is observed by lighting the candles of a candelabrum with nine branches, called a Hanukkah menorah (or hanukkiah). One branch is typically placed above or below the others and its candle is used to light the other eight candles. This unique candle is called the shamash (Hebrew: שמש, "attendant"). Each night, one additional candle is lit by the shamash until all eight candles are lit together on the final night of the holiday.

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Then came Hanukkah in Yerushalayim. It was winter, and Yeshua was walking around inside the Temple area, in Shlomo’s Colonnade. So the Judeans surrounded him and said to him, “How much longer are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us publicly!” Yeshua answered them, “I have already told you, and you don’t trust me."

 | John 10:22-25

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