About Hanukkah

 I began this blog/online diary during the Hanukkah season, with a rededication of the temple, aka my body, to Yah in mind. Well, as things go I've learned more about Hanukkah. The more you know,  the better you do.  I've changed how I handle Hanukkah due to the things I've learned.  Hopefully, I'm doing better.

First  I learned that there likely was no miracle involving the oil to light the menorahs in the temple. This story was recorded in the talmud between 100 and 600 AD, but is not found in any historical documents.  Considering that this event happened approximately 160 years before the birth of Messiah, seems like it would have been recorded before 100 - 600 AD.  Even the Jewish historian Josephus excludes the oil miracle in his account of the Maccabean revolt.

Second, I learned that the descendents of Zadok were not serving as temple high priests with the rededication of the temple (Ezekiel 44:15-16). The Hasmoneans, a Maccabean family, were placed in the priesthood after the Maccabean revolt and came from the tribe of Levi, but not in the succession of Zadok which goes against the Yah's instructions in Ezekiel. How can they be legitimate high priests? They served to usher in the religious leaders with whom Yahusha/Jesus had conflict. They enforced many added laws called the Oral Law thus compounding the burdens on the people.

Thirdly, I  have a problem with the 9 branch Hanukkah menorah. I'm just not comfortable with it being an exaggeration of the Menorah Yah claims as His symbol. So I  no longer display one. I don't light candles for Hanukkah either. The traditional prayer when lighting those candles claims Yah commands it, and that's just not true.  

Hanukkah has always been a national holiday, not a Holy Day instituted by Yah. John 10:22-23 tells us that at the time of The Feast of Dedication, Yahusha/Jesus was in the temple. It doesn't tell us what He was doing, except that the Yehudim/Jewish Leaders surrounded Him to test Him again. I will continue to use Hanukkah as a time of self reflection, seeking to  ensure the temple is pure for the Spirit of The Holy One of Israel to abide. Another opportunity to do a focused cleaning can't be bad thing, right? I hope to be a light. I am including web links that helped me along this path.  

Don't hide your light under a bushel

Teresa

Copy and paste in the search bar:

https://dafaleph.com/home/2015/12/8/the-historicity-of-the-miracle-of-oil

https://youtu.be/6-6sHGm54GE?si=66Sc1p2GYo5-J9ET

https://youtu.be/xqh_xGSIbk4?si=a9DtngBK2v6skzrj

https://youtu.be/xqh_xGSIbk4?si=jtcRBWnp8ZAxlfSM

https://youtu.be/MroOSG5QLus?si=ffClRuL04q8EhbfU

https://encountersinarchaeology.org/the-kingdom-of-god-a-brief-history-of-qumran/