Everywhere: Chanukah's relevance in the continuing struggle for religious freedom

Chanukah, a holiday of eight days duration beginning on the evening of December 14, 2025, commemorates, according to Jewish tradition, the miracle of finding a small jar of kosher oil in the defiled Holy Temple in Jerusalem to reignite and rededicate the eternal flame of the Temple Menorah.

The small jar of oil was sufficient to light the menorah for only one day, but it burned brightly for eight days until a new supply of consecrated oil could be secured; thus the holiday became known as the “Festival of Lights.”

The “Festival of Lights,” precedes by many centuries other seasonal religious ho...