The Chanukah story takes place in Israel approximately 2,000 years ago. The Syrian Greeks controlled that part of the world at that time. They were not interested in annihilating the Jews as Haman and Hitler were but rather causing them to totally assimilate and leave the Jewish faith. This is just as dangerous or almost as dangerous a threat.
For if we do not survive as Jews then what value does Judaism have?!
The Jews of that era fought valiantly to survive and drove the Syrian Greeks out of the Temple. They then rededicated the Temple, found oil for the Holy Menorah and therefore we have the festival of Chanukah. Chanukah means rededication as they rededicated the Temple at that time.
We face a different threat today and that is voluntary self destruction. The assimilation rate here in America is frightening. We are threatening to destroy ourselves.
Let us use this Chanukah season not only to sing songs, eat latkes and light the Menorah but rededicate ourselves to the real message of Chanukah: the survival of the spiritual aspect of the Jewish faith.
Hanukkah, or the Festival of Rededication, celebrates the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem after its defilement by the Syrian Greeks in 164 BCE. Although it is a late addition to the Jewish liturgical calendar, the eight-day festival of Hanukkah has become a beloved and joyous holiday. It is also known as the Festival of Lights and usually takes place in December, at the time of year when the days are shortest in the northern hemisphere.