heller!

How to explain Hanukkah to Gentiles

In the village of Modiin, a group of soldiers came to enforce Antiochus’s law. One solider came up to a group of Jews and said something like, “Bow down to Zeus! Eat some of this pig flesh! Do it. C’mon, do it.” The high priest, Mattathias, just shook his head. One villager acquiesced, and started praying to an idol. Then, in what seems like a scene from a Western, the outraged Mattathias pulled out his blade and slaughtered him. Then he turned to the solider and killed him. Then with the help of his five sons he defeated the remaining soldiers. Mattathias’s posse (aka, the Maccabees) hid out in the hilly wilderness with other rebels. 

My explanation of Hanukkah for people that are not Jewish.