What was the miracle Hanukkah celebrates that occurred about 2000 years ago?

Answer 1

The same as today, with the possible exception of the dreidel-game.Hanukkah is celebrated as follows:
1) People light their menorah with olive oil or candles, every night at or after sundown with the customary blessings and songs, adding one candle for every day until on the 8th evening 8 candles are lit. In Israel, many people light their menorahs outside.

2) Special Hanukkah additions are added to the prayer services:

• a) Al-hanisim ("regarding the miracles") in grace after meals and in the thrice daily prayers
  
• b) Hallel - the Thanksgiving psalms during morning prayers
  
• c) Each day there is a special Torah reading
  

3) A popular Hanukkah game is the "dreidel" game - a four sided top with Hebrew letters, which the children spin for coins or chocolate coins.
4) Dairy products are customary.
5) Foods prepared with oil: Latkes (pancakes), or Sufganiyot (jelly donuts).
6) Giving out Hanukkah money (gelt) to children is an ancient custom. Other gift-giving is non-traditional.See also:

How did Hanukkah start

Answer 2

As far as we know, Hanukkah has always been celebrated with the lighting of a Hanukkiyah, a 9 branched candle holder or oil lamp, however there are no references to Hanukkah celebrations prior to the Talmud, around 400 CE.

Answer 3

Hanukkah is a minor holiday that commemorates the victory of the Jews against the Syrian-Greeks in the Maccabean War of 165 BCE.

The real miracle of Hanukkah is that the Jews were victorious, against all odds, they beat their enemy and were able to restore the Ancient Temple in Jerusalem, which had been desecrated by the Greeks. In a larger context, Hanukkah represents victory against religious persecution and assimilation.

But a second miracle is more commonly known: A story in the Talmud (500 years later) tells of a legendary miracle. After the war, When the Jews returned to rededicate the Ancient Temple, they found that there was only enough oil to keep the eternal lamp burning for 1 day. It would take 8 days to make more of this special oil. So the lit the lamp, and it miraculously burned for 8 days, giving them plenty of time to make more oil to keep the lamp burning.

This second miracle is very popular with children. It is understood as a legend only, and appears to be the early Rabbis' attempt to add a spiritual level to the holiday.

Answer:

The above answer is non-traditional. Our tradition is that the miracle of the oil did indeed occur and isn't just a legend. If it wasn't for the clear tradition of our Sages, Hanukkah would have been forgotten long ago.

Moreover, on Hanukkah the chief celebration is not for the military victory; it's for the miracle of the oil (Talmud, Shabbat 21b). As an augmentation to the celebration of that miracle, we also thank God during Hanukkah for the Hasmoneans' miraculous military victories (during which they ousted the Seleucids and their lackeys, the Hellenizing Jews, making possible the rededication of the Temple).

The Seleucids (Syrian-Greeks) under Antiochus Epiphanes (2nd century BCE), at the instigation of the Hellenizers, had forbidden various Torah-practices such as Sabbath-observance and circumcision, rededicated the Temple to a Greek idol, and pressed the Jews to offer up sacrifices to the idol. One of the leading elder Jewish sages called upon the people to keep observing the Torah anyway; and if necessary, to use force in resisting the decrees. When a Hellenized Jew offered a sacrifice to the Greek idols in a nearby village, the sage killed him as well as the Greek overseer. This brought a violent reaction from the Greeks; and the loyal Jews, led by the Hasmonean family, were forced to retreat from their towns and strike out at the Greeks in an attempt to oust them from the Holy Land and to enable the people to once again observe the Torah. The Torah-Jews were heavily outnumbered by the attacking Greek armies, but God gave them miraculous victories again and again. After three years of struggle, the Greek armies retreated from Jerusalem, and the Hasmoneans (also called Maccabees) entered the Holy Temple which the Greeks had defiled, reconsecrated it to God, and began the Temple service once more. Among other things, they wanted to relight the olive oil candelabrum (Exodus ch. 25), but could only find one day's supply of undefiled oil - and it would take eight days to make and bring some more.

Miraculously, the menorah stayed lit for eight days (Talmud, Shabbat 21b), allowing enough time for new oil to be prepared and brought. The significance of the miracle is that it demonstrated that God's presence was still there. The Torah-community was overjoyed, because God's presence meant everything to them.

This is what Hanukkah represents: the closeness to God; and the avoidance of Hellenization (assimilation).

The Torah Sages instituted the festival of Hanukkah at that time (Talmud, Shabbat 21b), to publicize the miracle (Rashi commentary, ibid). This is why we light our Hanukkah-menorahs.

(The Hanukkah-menorah, or hanukkiyah, is a special form of the original seven-branched menorah. Our Hanukkah-menorahs have eight spaces for oil, or candles, to mark each of the eight days for which the oil lasted and a ninth to hold the shamash, a candle used to light the others.)

The eight-day rededication of the Temple is also mentioned in pre-Talmudic sources: Megillat Taanit (ch.9), the book of Maccabees (I, 4:56-59; and II, 1:18); and Josephus (Antiquities ch.12).

The Al-Hanisim prayer which we recite during Hanukkah centers around the Hasmoneans' victory and rededication of the Temple, while the candle-lighting commemorates the miracle of the oil.

Though the military victory is prominently mentioned in the prayers, it wouldn't have been celebrated if not for the miracle of the oil, just as we have no special occasion to mark Abraham's victory (Genesis ch.14), or those of Moses (Numbers ch.21), Joshua, Deborah (Judges ch.4), Gideon (Judges ch.6-7), Jephthah (Judges ch.11), or King David. And though the Hasmonean battles continued for two decades after the retaking of the Temple, the Sages instituted Hanukkah immediately after the miracle of the oil.

It should also be noted that the main goal for which the Maccabees fought was not political independence. They fought to enable the people to observe the Torah's commandments; as we say in the Al Hanisim prayer: "the Greeks sought to cause us to forget Your Torah and leave Your statutes."

Answer 4

There are no written records of Hanukkah observances prior to the 3rd Century, but by then it was celebrated by lighting a Hanukkiah (Hanukkah-menorah) for each of the 8 nights, just as we do today.

Answer:

The above answer is untrue. The paragraph in the Talmud (Shabbat 21b) referring to the instituting of Hanukkah, which was authored by the Sages of the Mishna (ibid), occurs also in Megillat Ta'anit (ch.9), which was written less than two centuries after the events of Hanukkah. The book of Maccabees (I, 4:36; and II, 1:18) mentions it well over a century before that; and Josephus also (Antiquities ch.12) speaks about it.

Answer 5

The eight-day rededication of the Temple is described in 1 Maccabees 4:36 and 2 Maccabees 1:18. Josephus mentions the eight-day festival in Antiquities ch.12. In the Talmud (Shabbat 21b), the laws are given for how and when to light the menorah on the nights of Hanukkah.

Since then, Hanukkah has been observed virtually the same way it is today, except for the influences of Christmas that date back to the 1960's, such as gift giving and decorating.

Answer 6

Hanukkah is celebrated beginning on the 25th of kislev, which comes out in the winter.