Ghosts of Chanukah Past

Where did the miracle of the oil come from? A 2006 guest post by ExtraTorah

Were you aware Pesikta Rabbati says we keep Chanuka for 8 days "because when the sons of the Hasmoneans, the High Priest, defeated the Hellenists, they entered the Temple and found there eight iron spears. They stuck candles on them and lit them." See more of same at this summary of the different Torah views of the Chanuka miracle and (in the comments) a discussion about why we should, or should not believe it

Holy holiday irony Batman! "...the "pure" cruse of oil, enough to last only for a day, but which burned for 8, had been certified kosher by none other than Menalus, the Kohen Godol and the same rasha who caused the whole mess to begin with!"

Lurker on the origins of Chanuka

"...the facts of history are almost irrelevant, once emotions have come into play." A short post on the significance of Chanukka

"I couldn't imagine somebody like Osama bin Laden understanding the joy of Hanukkah." — President George W. Bush, Dec. 10, 2001 

If you're new to the blog you might not know why Chanukah has 8 days. If so, you can find out here. [Though this is where it began, and here is where it continued this year]

Hungry for more of same? See: Oy Chanuka

And because no trip down memory lane would be complete without an undressing of Cross Currents check out this discussion of Toby Katz's mistaken view of Chanuka, too

Also: Never forget that "Chanukah would probably have gone the way of Shavuot, a more significant Jewish holiday which few Jews celebrate because there is no popular Christian holiday surrounding it."

The final word