The Hanukkah holiday is an old one. It honors the struggle of ancient Jews to
restore the Temple of Jerusalem. Long ago, Judea was ruled by the Syrian king
Antiochus
took a
hard line
when he
said that Jews should give up worshipping Yahweh and worship the Greek gods instead.
This was a
hot potato
issue with the Jews.
He said that the Jews must do this to stay
on
his good side
.
![](http://idiomsbykids.com/uploads/thumb/on_my_good_side_1_thumb.jpg)
The Jews
were
put out
and
didn't like this.
![](http://idiomsbykids.com/uploads/thumb/put_out_1_thumb.jpg)
They
refused to abandon Yahweh . They decided to do
something about it and a man named Judah Maccabee got
the ball rolling.
![](http://idiomsbykids.com/uploads/thumb/keep_the_ball_rolling_1_thumb.jpg)
He
drummed up
a group
of people
to fight back. These people got more people to
chuck it
and fight.
![](http://idiomsbykids.com/uploads/thumb/chuck_it_1_thumb.jpg)
They fought back and were
a quick study
on how to fight. For three years, the Jews battled the
Syrians for control of Judea. When the Jews won
they went back to
square one
in the Temple
of Jerusalem, removing all Greek symbols and restoring the Jewish symbols. The
job was finished on the 25th day of the month of Kislev. This is the day
Hanukkah is celebrated. In the Western calendar this date varies
and may occur at any time from late November to
late December.
To help
celebrate, Judah and his followers lit an oil lamp. The supply of oil was very
low, but this lamp stayed lit for eight days.
To honor this extraordinary
event, Jews today celebrate the Eight Days of Hanukkah and call it the "
Festival
of Lights."
They light a special eight-candle device called a menorah.
People
today give each other
the odd bill
and
gifts, and
lap up
special foods, have special dinners
and just
go crazy.
It is a time to
remember their ancestors, who were
put out
by the Syrian king's
hard line
and fought to take their temple back.
The
big picture is that religious freedom is a
hot potato
issue.
People should not be forced to
chose sides
as to the god or gods that they worship.
Idioms in
this story:
hard line
hot potato
on
his good side
put out
chuck it
a quick study
square one
the odd bill
go crazy
The
big picture
chose sides
drummed up