Hanukkah is, at its core, the religious and cultural commemoration of a decisive, ancient Jewish military victory. In 168 BCE, the Syrian army took over Jerusalem, banning Judaism and its observance and renaming the holy temple for Zeus. In response, a small group of Hebrew resistance fighters led by Judah Maccabee routed the Syrian army in two major battles and drove them from the city. Tradition holds that, when the Maccabees entered the desecrated temple, they found a small jar of oil that