Discovery of 2,100-year-old fortress bears witness to historic holiday of freedom, Hanukkah

When I lived in Israel many years ago as a student studying to become a rabbi, our class participated in an archaeological dig in the Negev desert. We were supervised by world class archaeologists at the biblical town of Aroer, east of the Dead Sea on the north bank of the River Arnon (See Deuteronomy 2:36).

With specific tools we dug down each day into the mounds of history. As we excavated the site, we discovered artifacts from different time periods. We unearthed pre-Roman pottery shards and pieces of Roman glass, among other finds. One of the greatest lessons was touching remnants of the Biblical past and using tools to bring to light the memory of our biblical ancestors.

Now news reports from Israel bring us another major archaeological discovery, and it couldn’t have come at a better time. Israeli archaeologists unearthed a 2,100-year-old fortress that may provide evidence of and corroborate the historic holiday of Hanukkah, which begins Sunday night.

The Israeli Antiquities department announced that this fortress was constructed by the Greek Seleucid Empire post 556 BCE (Before Common Era) to protect Maresha, a biblical iron age city. The evidence of ancient artifacts demonstrates that the Jewish rebellion against the Greek occupation of ancient Judea in 165 BCE led to an attack against the fortress and the eventual defeat of the Greek encampment.

The Maccabee family formed an insurgency to expel the Seleucid Greek forces from the entirety of Judea, and when they succeeded in 165 C.E., they reconquered Judea and reestablished the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. They became the Hasmonean dynasty and ruled Judea under the Romans until about the first century of the Common Era.

After the Maccabees and their forces retook Jerusalem, they lit the Menorah in the Temple. The oil, which was supposed to last one night, lasted eight.

To this day Jewish families worldwide display in their windows a facsimile of the menorah, dedicated to and in remembrance of the miracle of the oil lasting eight nights.

The fact that we will one day be able to visit an actual fortress where archaeologists say that the Hasmoneans fought and defeated the Greeks fortifies the historic basis of this famous holiday.

The truth is that Hanukkah is not just about a miracle of a menorah or candelabra that stayed lit in the temple for eight nights.

Hanukkah has always been a holiday about the fight for freedom and self determination of the fate of the Jewish people — and to throw off the yoke of the Seleucids, who had turned the Temple into a Greek pagan temple.

The word Hanukkah means to rededicate, and that is exactly what the victors did when the land of Judea, including the Temple, returned to Jewish sovereignty.

The Israeli archaeological achievements — like this one and the Dead Sea Scrolls and many more — corroborate the presence of the Jewish people in ancient Judea, which would one day be called Israel.

It is one thing to read in the Sacred Scriptures or post biblical ancient texts such as the Book of Maccabees about events that were recorded for future generations.

It is another to actually stand in a place and see where people lived in those times. One can imagine by looking at the artifacts of pottery, coins, weapons and wooden beams how our forbearers lived and how they fought heroically for freedom.

Hanukkah has become a major holiday in American life. Not everyone knows the actual history, but they know about the Menorah story and the giving of gifts and the spinning of the dreidel.

It’s also important that the history is being resurrected before our eyes. The archaeologists in Israel are modern-day detectives of ancient history who uncover it, bring it to our attention and prompt our spiritual awareness of Jewish history.

When I read about the archaeological discoveries, I recall the dreidel, which on each side of the spinning top has a letter that represents the phrase, “A great miracle happened there.”

Modern Israelis changed one letter on the traditional spinning top of the dreidel to say “here” instead the word “there.” The events happened in Israel, so saying “here” makes total sense if one lives in Israel.

Maybe the miracle is not simply the menorah. It’s also seeing how the artifacts of this history still bear witness to ancient Israelite and Jewish traditions. Could that be the miracle this year on Hanukkah?

History matters.

Happy Hanukkah.