Jewish Calendar Thursday, 2 Tevet, 5784 December 14, 2023
Jewish Calendar Thursday, 2 Tevet, 5784 December 14, 2023 Chanukah Day 7 Menorah Lighting Light 8 lights on the Menorah after 4:35 PM Torah Reading Chanukah 7: Numbers 7:48-59 Jewish History 7th Day of Chanukah Miracle (139 BCE) On the 25th of Kislev in the year 3622 from creation, the Maccabees liberated the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, after defeating the vastly more numerous and powerful armies of the Syrian-Greek king Antiochus IV, who had tried to forcefully uproot the beliefs and practices of Judaism from the people of Israel. The victorious Jews repaired, cleansed and rededicated the Temple to the service of G-d. But all the Temple's oil had been defiled by the pagan invaders; when the Jews sought to light the Temple's menorah (candelabra), they found only one small cruse of ritually pure olive oil. Miraculously, the one-day supply burned for eight days, until new, pure oil could be obtained. In commemoration, the Sages instituted the 8-day festival of Chanukah, on whi