What is Hanukkah Really About?

The popular explanation of Hanukkah centers on the miracle of the oil. According to the familiar tale, the Greeks desecrated the Temple and outlawed Jewish religious practice. Outraged, Mattathias and his sons launched a revolt. After their unexpected victory, they sought to rededicate the Temple but found only a single cruse of pure oil—enough for one day. Miraculously, it burned for eight days, and to commemorate that miracle we light candles for eight nights.

As inspiring as this story is, it is historically difficult for two reasons. First, none of the early sources mention the miracle of the oil; it appears only centuries later in the Babylonian Talmud. Second, from a historical perspective, the miracle of the oil pales in comparison to what actually occurred. A small, lightly trained group of farmers, priests, and villagers faced the professional armies of the Seleucid Empire—equipped with war elephants, phalanxes, and overwhelming manpower—and yet the Maccabees managed to defeat them, purify the Temple, restore Jewish worship, and reestablish an independent Jewish state for the first time in over four centuries.

It therefore seems strange that Hanukkah should focus on a miracle of oil rather than on these extraordinary events. Indeed, the early Zionist movement dismissed the oil narrative entirely, instead celebrating the courage, determination, and military genius of the Maccabees who triumphed against impossible odds.

By emphasizing the military heroism of Hanukkah , Zionism transformed the holiday into a symbol of the strong, empowered Jew—no longer the passive diaspora figure who waits for miracles, but the “New Jew”: proud, resilient, and fiercely devoted to the rebirth of Jewish nationhood. Zionist literature, children’s books, and holiday songs reflected this outlook. A prime example is the early-20th-century song Mi Yimalel (מי ימלל):

“Who can recount the mighty deeds of Israel?
Who can count them all?
For in every generation a hero will arise,
The redeemer of the people!
Hear!
In those days—and in our time as well—
A Maccabee will arise to save and redeem.
And in our own days the entire nation will stand,
And “Maccabees” will carry the torch!”

This song consciously transforms the biblical phrase “Who can recount the mighty deeds of the Lord?” (Psalms 106:2), replacing “God” with “Israel.” It shifts redemption from God to human heroes, and it reinterprets the liturgical phrase “In those days, in our time” not as a reference to divine salvation but as a call for the Jewish nation itself to rise and fight as the Maccabees once did. The message is clear: the secular Zionists who fought to create and defend the State of Israel are the modern day Maccabees.

So which narrative is correct? Which tells us what Hanukkah is really about?

I believe the answer is: neither. And to understand why, we must return to the earliest sources.

According to most scholars, I Maccabees is the earliest surviving account of the revolt. In chapter 2, Mattathias delivers his final charge to his sons. Here is an excerpt:

“My children, be valorous and resolute for the Torah,
For through the Torah you shall win glory…
Judas Maccabaeus has been a mighty warrior from his youth;
He shall be the commander of your army and fight the war against the nations.
Join yourselves to all who observe the Torah, and take vengeance for your people.
Bring retribution upon the gentiles, and heed the commands of the Torah.”

Judah would indeed fulfill his father’s words—defeating the Greeks, purifying the Temple, and establishing the festival of Hanukkah in commemoration.

From this earliest account, it is clear that Hanukkah is not about a miraculous jar of oil or secular nationalism. The Maccabees fought because the Torah and Jewish observance had been desecrated, and they did not wait passively for divine intervention. They rose up and fought, ready to risk everything to defend God, Torah, and the Jewish way of life.

In essence, Hanukkah is about a military campaign fueled by profound religious conviction and uncompromising loyalty to God and to Torah.

One of the remarkable developments since October 7 has been the resurgence of that same spirit of faith within the Israel Defense Forces. Soldiers from religious and secular backgrounds stand arm-in-arm reciting the Shema, carry pocket-sized books of Psalms into combat, don tzitzit, and draw strength from songs of deep religious faith. Among the songs heard throughout units today are:

• “The nation of Israel lives; our Father lives.”
• “And the Blessed God always loves me, and I will always have only goodness.”
• “One who truly believes has no fear, for their faith cannot be lost. We have the King of the universe, who watches over us and guards us from all harm.”

Although the IDF is not a religious army, it is today’s IDF soldiers who come closest to embodying the spirit of the ancient Maccabees—combining military strength and heroism with religious faith and devotion.

On this Hanukkah, let us, therefore, honor not only the Maccabees of old but also their modern day heirs, the men and women of the IDF.

Hanukkah Sameach.