Jews around the world are marking the start of Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights, which celebrates the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem in the second century B.C. after it was defiled by Syrian Greeks.

Hanukkah, also known as the Festival of Lights, is a significant Jewish holiday. It commemorates the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem.  The festival lasts for eight days, symbolising the miracle of the menorah.

Hanukkah, perhaps the only Jewish holiday that has been confirmed by the archaeological record, celebrates the singular, millennialong relationship between Jews and the land of Israel. It is the story of a civil and cultural struggle for sovereignty over its institutions. It is perhaps the most explicitly Zionist story in the Jewish tradition.