The Feast of Lights
             During the month of December, in the Northern Hemisphere the nights are longer than days and everything is surrounded by a cold, dark ambience. Animals hibernate, birds migrate to the southern sky, and the trees are barren with a few scrawny branches looming out of darkness. The picturesque of winter is so devastating, everything seems to be consume by its shadow. Fortunately, within this desolate atmosphere is a small lamp with eight candles that being kindled each night for eight consecutive nights to traverse this enmity of darkness; it is the season of joy and thanksgiving, a season of light emerging out of darkness, and it is the season of Hanukkah. During these days, the Jews enjoy the company of their family; they feast, sing, dance, and recount magical stories to each other. Even though coincides very closely in temporality with the Christmas holiday and many times mistaken to be a "Jewish Christmas", its origin and meaning are very different.
             In present day, most people see the feast of Hanukkah as just a regular Jewish holiday and have no concept of what it is really about. To fully undertake the significance of Hanukkah, one must first visit its provenience and its development. The chronicle begins at the time of Alexander the Great. As his empire spreads into the East, he slowly introduces the Hellenistic Greek culture into this Asiatic lands bordering the Mediterranean. Interact by commerce, many Jews in this area are deliberately being shaped by Western philosophy, its literature, and its impressive technology and power. Miller quotes, "After all, who could not be enticed by the charms of Eros, the philosophy of Plato, the plays of Aristophanes, the games of the stadia?" (5). Time flies by, many Jews see that the actual world is govern by wealth and materialistic goods, and the religion of their ancestors seems to be less concrete. As Berger...