This popular Jewish celebration falls close to the Christmas of the traditional church observance. It dates to the days of the Maccabean revolt (2nd century BC).
For the origins of Hanukkah (or Chanukkah—hard ch, as in Loch Ness), click here. If you are not familiar with this history, be sure to follow the link and familiarize yourself with the story.
Since the Jews removed the Apocrypha from their Bibles (no later than 200 AD), they no longer study the books of 1 and 2 Maccabees, which record the insitution of Hanukkah. As a result, and ironically, the only biblical reference to Hanukkah is found in the Christian testament, in John 10:22. There's not a single passage in the Old Testament (the Hebrew scriptures) about this holiday!
Tell your Jewish friends! Tell everybody!
