Do antisemites realize that they are just creating a new holiday for the Jewish people? Do antisemites understand that most of the Jewish holidays are about evil people trying to kill them, they overcome and win, and then they have a special feast filled with empty carbs? After I stopped laughing at the truth of what he said, I began thinking.
Tag: Judah Maccabee
Hanukkah, the Fourth Night
When the Temple was defiled by Antiochus, the holy oil was poured out and the Golden Menorah was seized. Once the Temple was reclaimed from the Syrians, Judah Maccabee ordered the Levite priests to construct a new Menorah to sit in the Holy Place. This Menorah was seized by the Romans in 70 CE (Common Era) and no one knows where it is. Today, the Temple Institute has constructed another Menorah that sits in the Old City of Jerusalem overlooking the Temple Mount.
The history of the Hanukkiah or eight-branched menorah used at Hannukah is a little obscure. Josephus, the Jewish historian, mentions light in reference to Hanukkah, but not the Menorah. The Mishna, the writings of Jewish law, has nothing about a Hanukkiah even to 300 CE. Somewhere sometime, the Hanukkiah developed and was lit. The rabbis codified it in the Talmud, the written oral laws. It was also during this time that the story of the miracle of the oil came about along with many of the traditions found in the eight-day celebration. For a complete hard copy and study questions for each night of Hanukkah, please purchase the complete study guide Yeshua in His Father’s Feasts.
Hanukkah Word: Hammer
The noun ‘hammer’ is found only a few times in Scripture. The first time is when Ya’el, the wife of Heber, uses a hammer to pound a tent stake into the head of Sisra piercing his skull and crushing his temple (Judges 4:21). With this act, she sets Israel free from God’s judgment for worshiping idols. The second time it is used when Solomon built the Temple. That stones were prepared at the quarry so that no ‘hammer’ could be heard while it was being built (1 Kings 6:7).
Bubbe’s Hanukkah Poem
In the Jerusalem Temple the killing of pigs
Left an ugly mess that was very, very big
The Levite priests went to work that day
To clean the whole place until they could say
The Holy Temple was ready to worship Yahweh.