A traditional menorah: a new candle is lit on each of the eight days of Hanukkah to commemorate that first batch of miraculous Maccabee oil.

The sun has set and the Festival of Lights is here again. For those of you goyim (Hebrew biblical term that now equates to “non-Jewish”) people out there, Hanukkah commemorates the re-dedication of the Holy Temple of Jerusalem during the 2nd century B.C. Back in the day, the forces of Antiochus IV Epiphanes, King of Syria and total jerk, desecrated the temple after conquering Judea. They wanted to put an altar to Zeus up there and effectively outlaw Judaism. Mattathias, who was a Jewish priest at the time, and his five sons (aka The Maccabees) were having none of this new Zeus business. They led a revolt and, by 165 B.C., they were successful in revolting against the Syrian king’s monarchy. After their decisive victory, they wanted to rededicate their temple and get back to business as usual; problem was, the Maccabees  only had enough consecrated oil to burn the eternal flame for a day, which kind of ruins the whole “eternal” part. Miraculously, that paltry amount of oil lasted eight days, which was just the amount of time the Maccabees needed to make some more and keep the flame going. So, Hanukkah (meaning dedication, naturally) became an annual ritual in celebration of the persistence of the Jewish spirit. This party goes on for eight nights, so make some latkes, spin the dreidel, and get in the Hanukkah spirit tonight!