Editing Hanukkah (section)

=== Traditional view ===
{{main|Miracle of the cruse of oil}}
When the [[Second Temple]] in Jerusalem was looted and services stopped, [[Judaism]] was outlawed. In 167 BCE, [[Antiochus IV Epiphanes|Antiochus]] ordered an altar to [[Zeus]] erected in the Temple. He banned [[brit milah]] (circumcision) and ordered pigs to be sacrificed at the altar of the temple.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0148:book=1:section=34|title=''The Wars of the Jews'' i. 34|last=Josephus|first=Flavius|access-date=6 October 2018}}</ref>

Antiochus's actions provoked a large-scale [[Maccabean Revolt|revolt]]. [[Mattathias]] (Mattityahu), a [[Kohen|Jewish priest]], and his five sons [[Johanan Maccabeus|Jochanan]], [[Simon Maccabaeus|Simeon]], [[Eleazar Maccabeus|Eleazar]], [[Jonathan Maccabaeus|Jonathan]], and [[Judas Maccabeus|Judah]] led a rebellion against Antiochus. It started with Mattathias killing first a Jew who wanted to comply with Antiochus's order to sacrifice to Zeus, and then a Greek official who was to enforce the government's behest (1 Mac. 2, 24–25<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.earlyjewishwritings.com/text/1maccabees.html|title=1 Maccabees|website=EarlyJewishWritings.com|access-date=6 October 2018}}</ref>). Judah became known as Yehuda HaMakabi ("Judah the Hammer"). By 166 BCE, Mattathias had died, and Judah took his place as leader. By 164 BCE, the Jewish revolt against the Seleucid monarchy was successful. The Temple was liberated and rededicated. The festival of Hanukkah was instituted to celebrate this event.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hope.edu/academic/religion/bandstra/BIBLE/1MA/1MA4.HTM#59|title=1 Macc. iv. 59|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040627184847/http://www.hope.edu/academic/religion/bandstra/BIBLE/1MA/1MA4.HTM|archive-date=27 June 2004}}</ref> Judah ordered the Temple to be cleansed, a new altar to be built in place of the polluted one and new holy vessels to be made.<ref name=JewishEncyclopedia/> According to the Talmud,<blockquote>"For when the Greeks entered the Sanctuary, they defiled all the oils therein, and when the Hasmonean dynasty prevailed against and defeated them, they made search and found only one cruse of oil which lay with the seal of the [[High Priest (Judaism)|kohen gadol]] (high priest), but which contained sufficient [oil] for one day's lighting only; yet a miracle was wrought therein, and they lit [the lamp] therewith for eight days. The following year these [days] were appointed a Festival with [the recital of] Hallel and thanksgiving."
—Shabbat 21b
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Tertiary sources in the Jewish tradition make reference to this account.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.chabad.org/holidays/chanukah/article_cdo/aid/605855/jewish/Alls-Well-When-it-Ends.htm|title=All's Well – When it Ends|last=Epstein|first=Baruch|access-date=6 October 2018|website=Chabad.org}}</ref>

[[Maimonides]] (12th century) described Hanukkah as follows:
<blockquote>
When, on the twenty-fifth of Kislev, the Jews had emerged victorious over their foes and destroyed them, they re-entered the Temple where they found only one jar of pure oil, enough to be lit for only a single day; yet they used it for lighting the required set of lamps for eight days, until they managed to press olives and produce pure oil. Because of this, the sages of that generation ruled that the eight days beginning with the twenty-fifth of Kislev should be observed as days of rejoicing and praising the Lord. Lamps are lit in the evening over the doors of the homes, on each of the eight nights, so as to display the miracle. These days are called Hanukkah, when it is forbidden to lament or to fast, just as it is on the days of Purim. Lighting the lamps during the eight days of Hanukkah is a religious duty imposed by the sages.<ref>[[Mishneh Torah]], {{cite web| url = https://www.sefaria.org/Mishneh_Torah%2C_Scroll_of_Esther_and_Hanukkah.3.2?lang=bi| title = Hilchot Megilot v Hanukkah 3:2–3}}</ref>
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