Members of Men's Rap preparing latkes for the Congregation Chanukah party.

Before there were calendars, prehistoric peoples marked the passage of time using astronomical events - the monthly phases of the moon or the annual cycles of the sun. The most important of these annual events was the winter solstice. As the sun appeared shone for shorter periods each day, ancient peoples feared that its presence would continue to diminish. Spurred on by their shamans and priests, they lit fires to encourage its return. Often they would start with a fire on the shortest day of the year and light a new, bigger one each succeeding day to encourage the sun’s return. Along with other peoples, the Israel nomads probably celebrated the winter solstice.

As in other ancient civilizations, Jewish holidays probably originated as celebrations of such heavenly events and were later assigned religious significance. In Deuteronomy , the three major holidays of the First Temple Israelites (1000 BCE)  were listed as Succot (at the autumn equinox), Passover, (at the Spring equinox), and Shavuot, 49 (7 X 7, a mystical number) days after Passover. Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur didn’t come until much later, most probably adopted after the Jewish exile in Babylon. (586 BCE). 

In 166 BCE, the Maccabean-led victory over their Syrian rulers gave the Jewish populace every right to celebrate. The victory was monumental. The  winter solstice was chosen as an ideal time to party. The choice was controversial for many reasons. Some objected because of its pagan roots. But there was also a more serious religious and political  problem. 

After the successful uprising, the populace broke into three factions. One, the Sadducees, of which the Macabees were a member, was made up primarily of rich landowners and aristocrats. They wanted a return to Temple Judaism and a strict interpretation of the "Law", the Torah, as it existed at that time. A larger group, the Pharisees, represented the "middle class" - the farmers, shepherds, and craftspeople. They were led by a unique group, a new scholar class with a new idea in Judaism. The group said that in addition to the written law given to Moses, there was an oral law handed down simultaneously and passed first   to Aaron and then from generation to generation. These men were called Rabbis. A third group, the Essenes, withdrew from the argument and set up a remote community to practice their own form of ascetic Judaism. 

The Pharisees railed against the celebration of the Maccabean holiday. The dispute lasted more than 150 years and with the destruction of the second Temple in 66 AD by the Romans, the argument was settled. The homeland was gone and the diaspora began. With the Jews in exile, the authority of the Pharisees was secure. There would be no more priesthood, no more central temple. Judaism was now in the hands of the Rabbis and they would never let go. 

In the Talmudic period (roughly from 100 to 500 AD), the Jewish Bible was codified by the Rabbis and the story of the Maccabeans was left out! This decision was applauded by the Roman rulers who did not need another  uprising tale in the Book of the Jews. In a passing midrash, one Rabbi, in commenting on the custom of lighting candles, mentioned that it commemorated "the miracle of the oil that lasted eight days" and a new tradition was institutionalized. 

The story of the Maccabees was rescued by - of all people - the Christians. When their New Testament was codified it included a section called the "Apocrypha" (hidden). These were Jewish texts left out of the official Jewish canon. These stories didn’t fit into the gospels but were important to the early Christians for historical reasons. The Apocrypha contains two versions of the Maccabee story, similar but different in detail.

The Catholic and Christian Orthodox Bibles contain the Apocrypha, with the Books of Maccabees, and the Protestant Bibles, following the Rabbinical Council of Jamnia, do not.
 

Chanukah (still, the festival of lights) remained a minor religious holiday in the shtetl and in most other lands until the American experience, at which time it became a  "alternative" to Christmas for Jewish children. It is not surprising to note that the burning of the Yule log, and use of trees and lights in the home also have their roots in the winter solstice.