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It is the 4th day of the festival of Hanukah..the Feast of the Dedication, also known as the Festival of Lights. Jesus celebrated this in John 10:22. It is remembrance not only of the rededication of the temple destroyed by the Syrian King Antiochus and his defeat by the Maccabees (165BC)….but of a great miracle that happened. When they came to the temple..it was trashed and everything burned. They relit the lamp stand in the Holy Place, but only had enough oil to burn for one day…and it took 8 days to purify the new oil according to the methods prescribed in the law. But the lamp stand stayed lit for the full eight days without any oil. The children play with a Dreidel (a top) that they spin. Each side has a Hebrew letter on it. A Shin, Hey, Gimmel and Nun. They stand for the first letter of the words, “Nes Gadol Hayah Sham” A great Miracle Happened There. Some play for candy..others coins (gelt). If the Dreidel stops with the Nun face up you get nothing (Nisht), the Gimmel up...you get all of the pot (Gantz), the Hey up…you get half (halb)…and the Shin up…you have to put in something (Shtel). It’s like free parking in Monopoly. I like the feast in that it falls on the 25th day of Kislev. How interesting that the early church picked (primarily for the sake of established tradition)..Christmas to fall on December 25th. A celebration of the date that the Light Of The World would enter human history as a baby in Bethlehem. Merry Christmas…
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Posted by journeyman on 2007-12-08 23:30:21 | Rating: | Views: 62
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