Random Thought #75

I was reading in one of my books about the history of what happened in and around Jerusalem between the Old Testament and New Testament times. Apparently when the Seleucid Empire seized control, their king Antiochus IV (Epiphanes) basically outlawed Judaism and desecrated the temple. When one of the sons of Mattithias Maccabee (Judas) led his followers to re-take Jerusalem, it was 3 years to the day of when the temple was desecrated. Only one vial of pure oil was left for burning in the menorah in the temple but the miracle that happened was that the vial should have only lasted 1 day, but instead it lasted 8 days, which was long enough to make more oil. The victory party lasted those 8 days and thus the Feast of Tabernacles or Feast of Hanukkah ("Dedication") was born. It was later renamed to the Festival of Lights. I had no idea this was the basis behind Hanukkah but its a pretty cool story.