Transcript
Lindsey Graham (0:00)
There are more ways than ever to listen to History Daily ad free. Listen with Wondry plus in the Wondery app as a member of Noiser plus at noiser.com or in Apple Podcasts. Or you can get all of History Daily plus other fantastic history podcasts@intohristory.com. It's early December, 164bce in Judea, a province ruled by the Seleucid Empire. A Jewish priest walks through the Temple of Jerusalem towards the altar. He weaves his way around workmen covered in dirt who scurry around the building. Today, the holiest place in the Jewish religion is a hive of noise and activity. But the priest does not mind the peace being disturbed because a dreadful act of sacrilege is finally going to be corrected. As he reaches the center of the temple, the priest stops to watch a group of stonemasons chipping away at the base of a large statue of Zeus of the Greek gods. The statue was placed here by officials by the Seleucid Empire who spent the last few years trying to quash Judaism and replace it with the Seleucids own Greek inspired religion and culture. The priest says a small prayer of thanks that this statue that's been defiling the temple is finally coming down. The priest looks on as one of the workers swings back his tool and strikes the statue with a heavy blow, one that causes it to wobble forward. A stonemason shouts a warning and waves the priest back. As the statue tips further and further until it topples to the ground. Workers rush forward and begin looping ropes around the fallen statue to pull it out and away from the holy place. The priest smiles, satisfied with their work. Now that the statue is gone, he can begin making preparations for a grand ceremony of to rededicate the temple to the Jewish faith. He closes his eyes and prays that his people might finally be left alone to worship in peace. In preparation for the rededication ceremony, the temple priests seek out oil to light the candles of the Menorah, a seven branched candelabrum that serves as a symbol of the Jewish people. But the priests only find one pot that wasn't defiled by the Seleucids. According to legend, this vessel contained only enough oil to keep the menorah burning for 24 hours. But miraculously, there was enough oil to keep it alight for eight days. Every year the rededication ceremony in the Temple of Jerusalem is celebrated during an eight day holiday known as Hanukkah, or the Festival of Lights. But the tradition is about more than the Miracle of the Oil. It's about the Jewish people's yearning for freedom. The first Hanukkah was celebrated during the unrest of the Maccabean Revolt, a rebellion in which Jews, under the leadership of a priest, Judas Maccabeus, rose up against their Seleucid rulers. The holiday commemorates the greatest triumph of the Maccabees when they forced the Seleucids out of Judea and took control of Jerusalem and its holy temple. On November 21,164BCE.
Tommy Alter (3:17)
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