Chanukah – 25 Kislev

The Hebrew word Chanukah means “dedication,” and it refers to the purifying and re-dedication of the Temple after the Maccabees arose victorious over their Assyrian oppressors. Jewish tradition offers two reasons for this wonderful festival. One reason is to celebrate the victory as recounted in the Chanukah prayer, which is traditionally recited three times a day throughout the festival:

We thank You for the miracles, for the redemption, for the mighty deeds and triumphs, and for the battles which You performed for our fathers in those days at this season–

–in the days of the Hasmonean High Priest Mattathias ben Yohanan and his sons, when a wicked Hellenic government rose up against Your people Israel to make them forget Your Torah and transgress the laws of Your will. You in great mercy stood by them in the time of distress. You championed their cause, defended their rights and avenged their wrong; You delivered the strong into the hands of the weak, the impure into the hands of the pure, the wicked into the hands of the righteous, and the arrogant into the hands of the students of Torah. You made a great and holy Name for Yourself in the world, and for Your people You performed a great deliverance until this day. And after this, Your children entered the shrine of Your house, cleansed Your Temple, purified Your sanctuary, kindled lights in Your holy courts, and established these eight days of Chanukah for giving thanks and praise to Your great Name.

The second reason is the miracle of the oil, the solitary source of which is found in the Talmud:

What’s significant about Chanukah that the Rabbis taught: “Starting the twenty-fifth of Kislev, there are eight days of Chanukah when it is forbidden to eulogize or fast”?

When the Greeks entered the shrine, they defiled all the oil that was in the shrine. When the Hasmonean Kingdom overcame them and reigned victorious, they searched [for oil] and only found one cruse which was sealed with the seal of the high priest, and there was only enough to light for one day. A miracle occurred, they lit from this cruse of oil for eight days. The following year they established these days as a festival for praises and thanksgiving.

Source: http://www.Hillel.org