This week, our friends and neighbors in the Jewish community will be celebrating Hanukkah, which is known as the Festival of Lights.  The festival recalls the events in the years 167-165 B.C. when the Seleucid Empire outlawed the Jewish religion in Israel.  The Seleucid king ordered the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem to be turned into a place of worship for the pagan god, Zeus.   That king also ordered that pigs be sacrificed there.  Pigs are considered unclean by Jews and many others, and their meat is not kosher under traditional Jewish dietary laws. The Jews rebelled successfully against the Seleucids and rededicated the Temple to the Jewish faith.  Although there was only enough oil to light the Temple for one day, the oil provided light for eight days.  This miracle was the origin of Hanukkah as the Festival of Lights.  A special lamp called a menorah contains spaces for candles or lights that can be illuminated for each of the eight days of Hanukkah, plus an extra one in the middle. The menorah is one of the national symbols of the Jewish people.

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