We are not the first to connect these two lights—the primordial light of creation and the Hanukkah light. The rabbis of the Kabala, the Jewish mystical tradition, claimed that these lights were one and the same, that the light we contemplate on Hanukkah is in fact the Or Genuzah (literally, “the light that was stored away”), the primordial light of

It was decided that this time, too, eight days of dedicatory ceremonies and sacrifices would be held. The Maccabees also may have hoped that this rededication would be graced with a miraculous fire from heaven when the sacrifice was offered, as both Moses’ and Solomon’s

Voting to trust their own experience as worthy and significant, the Maccabees decreed that Hanukkah, the dedication holiday, be celebrated annually for eight days, starting with 25 Kislev.