The Story of Hanukkah

Basically, long story short, in the 2nd century CE, one Jewish High Priest was ousted by king Antiochus IV of Hellenistic Greece of the Seleucid Empire, who then appointed his own High Priest of Zeus, and forbade the Jews to practice Judaism. Those who were caught doing so were publicly executed. The deposed High Priest gathered an army of a thousand and recaptured Jerusalem and the second temple. Upon hearing about this revolt, the Seleucid King sent an army to Jerusalem to slaughter young and old and have defiled the temple by destroying everything inside meant for the Jewish religious worship, installing the profane pagan rituals instead. 

The Jews were forced to abandon their temple service in favour of the supreme god Zeus of Greece. Some Jews did convert to become pagan idol worshippers, however that did not sit well with some of the Jewish priests, to such an extent, that one of them, upon seeing a Hellenic Jew making an offering to the pagan idol, went into a rage and killed him. He then run to the plains of Judea with his five sons where he died in hiding from persecution by the Seleucid authorities. Upon the death of their father, one of the sons gathered a small army and marched on Jerusalem starting the Maccabean Revolt, named so after the hummer, and was successful in the guerrilla warfare, "which at first was directed against Hellenized Jews, of whom there were many. 

The Maccabees destroyed pagan altars in the villages, circumcised boys and forced Jews into outlawry."*1 "After the victory, the Maccabees entered Jerusalem in triumph and ritually cleansed the Temple, reestablishing traditional Jewish worship there and installing Jonathan Maccabee as high priest. A large Seleucid army was sent to quash the revolt, but returned to Syria on the death of Antiochus IV. Its commander Lysias, preoccupied with internal Seleucid affairs, agreed to a political compromise that restored religious freedom. The Jewish festival of Hanukkah celebrates the re-dedication of the Temple following Judah Maccabee's victory over the Seleucids. According to Rabbinic tradition, the victorious Maccabees could only find a small jug of oil that had remained uncontaminated by virtue of a seal, and although it only contained enough oil to sustain the Menorah for one day, it miraculously lasted for eight days, by which time further oil could be procured."*1 

Thereafter, the Hanukkah festival, also known as the Festival of Lights, Feast of Dedication, is an eight-day Jewish holiday, is celebrated to commemorate this victory and the rededication of the Holy Temple (the Second Temple) in Jerusalem, which is "observed by the kindling of the lights of a unique candelabrum, the nine-branched menorah or hanukiah, one additional light on each night of the holiday, progressing to eight on the final night."*2

Happy Hanukkah!

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*1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maccabean_Revolt
*2 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanukkah
*3 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menorah_%28Hanukkah%29