In 2013 the American celebration of Thanksgiving and the Jewish feast of Chanukah fell on the same date. This gave rise to ‘Thanksgivukah’ celebrations where people found many historical and philosophical similarities between the two holidays. On this year of 2016 the synchronic oddities of the Jewish and Gregorian calendar grace us again but this time the eight day celebration of Chanukah falls on the same day as the Christian celebration of Christmas. Let’s see how we can again humor the two calendars.
Chanukah celebrates the remembrance of Israel's victory against the evil Greek king from Syria who would forbid them to practice their religion but instead wanted them to worship idols. This evil king brought an idol bearing his own face to the temple for people to sacrifice to. This led to the Maccabean ragtag army revolt which eventually recaptured Jerusalem from the hands of the Greek imperial armies. When it was time to rededicate the Temple, the priest needed to relight the eternal temple candelabra, but discovered that they only had enough oil for one day. Though it would take eight more days to get more oil, the miracle was that instead of one day, the oil lasted for eight. . Since that time, beginning each 25th of Kislev in the Jewish calendar, people remember this unlikely victory against the Greeks by lighting the Chanukah candelabra for eight days, one extra candle everyday. This is the story of God’s presence with His people whenever they take a stand for Him; a story of freedom against oppression. Jesus was seen teaching in Jerusalem during the feast of dedication which is Chanukah (John 10:22). In the fourth century AD, Pope Julius decreed that the birth of Jesus should be celebrated on the 25th of December of the Gregorian calendar. The early Jewish disciples of Israel celebrated that event in the fall during the Feast of tabernacle. What makes this year calendrical coincidence beautiful is that if Jesus was truly born during the Feast of Tabernacle, that means that He was conceived during the Feast of Chanukah, in the winter. Therefore the time of Chanukah, the season of what is called the the Festival of Light is also the time when He who is called The Light of the World. would have been conceived, the time when Gabriel the Angel appeared to Mary and told her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end." ... "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy--the Son of God. (Luk 1:30-35 ESV) HAPPY CHRISTMA-NUKAH!
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