Text: Scroll of Antiochus

Wish friends and family a Happy Chanukah with this beautiful greeting card! The Chanukiah is the nine-candle menorah which we use on the holiday of Chanukah, the Festival of Lights. The holiday commemorates the rededication of the Temple after the Hasmonean, or Maccabean, revolt in 164 BCE. We traditionally tell of a miracle that took place at the end of that revolt, after rededicating the Temple; there was only enough oil left to light the menorah for one day, but that small amount miraculously lasted eight days, until the Temple’s oil supply could be replenished.

The text is the Scroll of Antiochus (Megillat Antiochus) which provides an historical account of the Maccabean revolt. It is a non-canonical text; no canonical book deals with the story of Chanukah since the events it commemorates occurred after the Hebrew biblical texts had already been solidified.