Portion of the relief on the Arch of Titus in Rome depicting the removal of the seven-branched menorah after Rome besieged Jerusalem in 70 CE.
This is indeed a week of hope! On Sunday we lit the first candle on the Advent wreath, a candle symbolizing hope. Our Jewish siblings are also lighting candles of hope this week as they celebrate Hannukah.
The 8 day Jewish festival of Hannukah marks the re-dedication of the 2nd temple in Jerusalem. The story of Hannukah is a story of courage and resistance and a hope commemorated by the lighting of candles.
In 168 BC, the Syrian ruler Antiochus IV Epiphanes outlawed the practice of Judaism and demanded the people worship Greek gods. Under his orders, the temple in Jerusalem was desecrated by his soldiers who built an altar to Zeus and sacrificed a pig within its walls. Thousands of Jews were massacred.
In daring response, a group of Jewish rebels led by Judah the Maccabee revolted and drove the Syrians out of Jerusalem. The temple was ritually purified, and in doing so, the Maccabees found a single jar of oil from which they relit the great Menorah – the candelabrum in the temple. Miraculously, the light from that one jar lasted eight days.
Hannukah became a festival of light within Jewish homes symbolizing a faith that could not be extinguished.
If you have a home Advent wreath, perhaps you’ll light the candle of hope this week – defiantly resisting the those things around or within us which might diminish our faith.
In Christ,
Pastor Jen