When it comes to the biblical or Hebrew/Jewish holidays, there are two categories.  There are those commanded in Leviticus 23, which God calls His feasts — six annual feasts and the weekly Sabbath.  And then there are Purim and Hanukkah, which are separate from these, each of which has its own source and significance.  So…what about this Feast of Dedication?  Should Christians Celebrate Hanukkah?  (These are two different names for the same occasion.)

What is Hanukkah?  (And Why it’s Called the Feast of Dedication)

Hanukkah is primarily the commemoration of an historical event.  The heart of this event is found in the book of 1 Maccabees.  Although considered part of the canon of Scripture by Catholics and Orthodox, the books of the Maccabees are considered apocryphal by Protestants and most Jews.  That means that, while most of us consider it a legitimately historical book (like the works of Josephus), it isn’t considered Scripture in Protestant Christianity (or in Judaism).

The background begins with the start of the book, but the overall event is addressed primarily in chapters 2-4, with the heart of the feast being concentrated late in chapter 4.

Then said Judas and his brothers, ‘Behold, our enemies are crushed; let us go up to cleanse the sanctuary and dedicate it.’ So all the army assembled and they went up to Mount Zion.  And they saw the sanctuary desolate, the altar profaned, and the gates burned. In the courts they saw bushes sprung up as in a thicket, or as on one of the mountains. They saw also the chambers of the priests in ruins.  Then they rent their clothes, and mourned with great lamentation, and sprinkled themselves with ashes.  They fell face down on the ground, and sounded the signal on the trumpets, and cried out to Heaven.  Then Judas detailed men to fight against those in the citadel until he had cleansed the sanctuary.

He chose blameless priests devoted to the law, and they cleansed the sanctuary and removed the defiled stones to an unclean place.  They deliberated what to do about the altar of burnt offering, which had been profaned.  And they thought it best to tear it down, lest it bring reproach upon them, for the Gentiles had defiled it. So they tore down the altar, and stored the stones in a convenient place on the temple hill until there should come a prophet to tell what to do with them.  Then they took unhewn stones, as the law directs, and built a new altar like the former one.  They also rebuilt the sanctuary and the interior of the temple, and consecrated the courts.

They made new holy vessels, and brought the lampstand, the altar of incense, and the table into the temple.  Then they burned incense on the altar and lighted the lamps on the lampstand, and these gave light in the temple.  They placed the bread on the table and hung up the curtains. Thus they finished all the work they had undertaken.  Early in the morning on the twenty-fifth day of the ninth month, which is the month of Chislev, in the one hundred and forty-eighth year, they rose and offered sacrifice, as the law directs, on the new altar of burnt offering which they had built.  At the very season and on the very day that the Gentiles had profaned it, it was dedicated with songs and harps and lutes and cymbals.  All the people fell on their faces and worshiped and blessed Heaven, who had prospered them.  So they celebrated the dedication of the altar for eight days, and offered burnt offerings with gladness; they offered a sacrifice of deliverance and praise.

They decorated the front of the temple with golden crowns and small shields; they restored the gates and the chambers for the priests, and furnished them with doors.  There was very great gladness among the people, and the reproach of the Gentiles was removed.

Then Judas and his brothers and all the assembly of Israel determined that every year at that season the days of dedication of the altar should be observed with gladness and joy for eight days, beginning with the twenty-fifth day of the month of Chislev. (vv. 36-59)

The conquering Gentile nations (there were several, due to various political upheavals) had desecrated and destroyed the sanctuary of God, and commanded the people to abandon God’s law.  The Maccabees not only refused to disregard the law of God, but fought back against their enemies to defend the faith — and when they prevailed, they cleansed and restored the sanctuary and dedicated it over the course of eight days.  That’s why this is known as the Feast of Dedication (“Chanukah” — the “ch” is a guttural — or Hanukkah, meaning “dedication”), although it’s also known as the Feast (or Festival) of Lights.

Why Eight Days?

Most commonly, Hanukkah is associated with the miracle of the oil which, surprisingly, is not found in this text.  According to the Gemara, a section of the Babylonian Talmud — a later Jewish religious text/commentary — there was only oil enough available when the sanctuary lamp was relit for it to burn for a single day.  This light was commanded to be burned continually, though!  According to this account, it took eight days to procure more oil, and in the meantime, that one days’ worth of oil miraculously kept burning.

It’s unclear whether this is added information we simply don’t have extant in any earlier sources, or whether it’s a later embellishment.

The feast is also connected to the Feast of Booths/Tabernacles, apparently because the earlier dedication of the temple in Solomon’s day took place at the actual Feast of Tabernacles.  The retelling of the account in the book of 2 Maccabees makes this connection.

“In the reign of Demetrius, in the one hundred and sixty-ninth year, we Jews wrote to you, in the critical distress which came upon us in those years after Jason and his company revolted from the holy land and the kingdom and burned the gate and shed innocent blood. We besought the Lord and we were heard, and we offered sacrifice and cereal offering, and we lighted the lamps and we set out the loaves.  And now see that you keep the feast of booths in the month of Chislev, in the one hundred and eighty-eighth year.” (1:7)

“Since on the twenty-fifth day of Chislev we shall celebrate the purification of the temple, we thought it necessary to notify you, in order that you also may celebrate the feast of booths and the feast of the fire given when Nehemiah, who built the temple and the altar, offered sacrifices.” (1:18)

“Now Maccabeus and his followers, the Lord leading them on, recovered the temple and the city; and they tore down the altars which had been built in the public square by the foreigners, and also destroyed the sacred precincts.  They purified the sanctuary, and made another altar of sacrifice; then, striking fire out of flint, they offered sacrifices, after a lapse of two years, and they burned incense and lighted lamps and set out the bread of the Presence.  And when they had done this, they fell prostrate and besought the Lord that they might never again fall into such misfortunes, but that, if they should ever sin, they might be disciplined by him with forbearance and not be handed over to blasphemous and barbarous nations.

It happened that on the same day on which the sanctuary had been profaned by the foreigners, the purification of the sanctuary took place, that is, on the twenty-fifth day of the same month, which was Chislev.  And they celebrated it for eight days with rejoicing, in the manner of the feast of booths, remembering how not long before, during the feast of booths, they had been wandering in the mountains and caves like wild animals.  Therefore bearing ivy-wreathed wands and beautiful branches and also fronds of palm, they offered hymns of thanksgiving to him who had given success to the purifying of his own holy place.  They decreed by public ordinance and vote that the whole nation of the Jews should observe these days every year.” (10:1-8)

So the Maccabees seem to have drawn from elements of Sukkot when it came to rededicating the temple, likely because they were patterning it after the original dedication of Solomon’s temple (which actually occurred in the seventh month).  Sukkot is an eight-day-long feast, so this connection may be the reason for Hanukkah’s being an eight-day-long festival.

How is Hanukkah Celebrated Today?

Chislev is the ninth month of the Jewish year, and usually falls during our December, or late November.  Modern Hanukkah observances seem to have adopted some elements from the Christmas season, and/or more commercial influences, so traditions like gift-giving and playing dreidel (a game played with a special spinning top) are not (to the best of my knowledge) connected to the religious observance of the feast.

The religious traditions revolve around the lights and oil.  The temple lampstand — or menorah — has seven branches.  At Hanukkah, however, a special nine-branched menorah is used, for the eight nights of the feast.  There’s a candle to represent each night, along with the ninth, central “helper” candle (shamash).

The shamash is used to light the others, and each night a candle is added.  On the first night you light one of the eight, on the second night you light two, and so on.  The candles are ordinarily placed from right to left (as Hebrew is read), but then lit from left to right.  The traditional blessing is in the same basic format as other traditional Jewish holiday blessings:

“Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who has sanctified us with Your commandments, and commanded us to kindle the Hanukkah lights.”

Other traditional blessings that may also be recited include:

“Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who performed miracles for our forefathers in those days, at this time.”

and (only on the first night of the feast):

“Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who has granted us life, sustained us, and enabled us to reach this occasion.”

Zion Judaica Hanukkah MenorahMake Your Own Hanukkah Beeswax Candles, DIY Kit (48)Hanukkah Beeswax CandlesGoodLight Palm Wax Chanukah Candles

Traditional foods include latkes (potato pancakes) and other fried foods like donuts (e.g. sufganiyot, jelly-filled donuts), to focus on and celebrate the oil and its abundance.

Should Christians Celebrate Hanukkah?

Unlike the feasts of Leviticus 23, Hanukkah is not among God’s commanded feasts.  And unlike Purim, its origins are not recorded in Scripture.  This leads many to see it as being on shaky ground.  Still others see the association the Maccabees made with the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot), and wonder why one would keep this feast and not simply keep that one.

The only clear reference to Hanukkah in Scripture is a passing reference in John 10:22:

“Now it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter.”

(We know this can’t have been an oblique reference to Sukkot, because that’s an autumn feast, not a winter feast.)  There’s no indication here that we necessarily ought to keep the feast, or even that Jesus was keeping it, but it is treated as a normal matter of course, and there’s no hint of Jesus and/or His disciples having discouraged it.

With all that said, there’s potential value in celebrating this feast as an opportunity to remember the value of faithful obedience, and/or to focus on the biblical lampstand and all that it signifies about Jesus the Light and us as shining that light.

Symbolism of the Feast of Dedication/Festival of Lights

When the Maccabeans sanctified and rededicated the temple, they restored all the elements and functions of the sanctuary, but the focus of the eight days of dedication was the burning of the lamp.  What lamp?  Well, the lamp in the sanctuary was a seven-branched lampstand.

This lamp was to be kept burning continually and never go out.  (This instruction is the first thing given after the keeping of the seven feasts, and it’s been suggested that this might be a tiny prophetic “wink” at the eventual coming of Hanukkah.  True?  Who knows, but it’s an extra little tidbit to tuck away.)

Interestingly, in Revelation 1, the churches are represented as “seven golden lampstands.”  Were these truly seven separate lampstands (“candlesticks”), or were these the seven branches of a single lampstand?  (Language, and the transition between languages, is a bit fuzzy on this point.)  There certainly seems to be a parallel, even if this wasn’t strictly literal.

As I saw pointed out on social media recently, a candlestick doesn’t have any light of its own; a candlestick holds a candle and that has light.  More than this, though, biblical-era lamps weren’t typically candlesticks like we think of today, holding candles made of solid wax or tallow.  They held olive oil, and the burning of that oil made fire and light.  Both oil and fire are frequently associated with the Holy Spirit in Scripture, and we are to be “filled with” the Spirit.

So His Spirit in us fills us, sets us on fire, and we become a light, by shining His Light to the world.  A light which we are not to hide under a basket.

Hanukkah also falls at one of the darkest times of the year, making it a potential illustration of how “the Light shines in the darkness.”

Both Solomon when dedicating “his” temple (2 Chronicles 5-7), and the Maccabees when rededicating the temple, sang from the Psalms, praising the Lord and singing:

“For He is good,
For His mercy endures forever.”

There are a number of Psalms that contain that line but, in particular, Psalms 118 and 136 use it as refrains.  Psalm 118 seems especially appropriate here.  (As a point of interest, the phrase is also found in Jeremiah 33:11, which itself refers to the restoration of Jerusalem as a place of praise in God’s house.)  This word for “mercy,” often translated as “love” or “lovingkindness,”  “chesed,” bears connotations of steadfastness and generosity, which, itself, is shadowed by the abundance and unceasing burning of the oil in the lampstand’s lamps.

So…should you, as a Christian, celebrate Hanukkah?  It’s entirely up to you whether you and your family find value in it.