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, 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.

Each year, starting on the 25 th of the Jewish month of Kislev, Jews celebrate Hanukkah, often called the Festival of Lights. This year, Hanukkah begins at nightfall on December 25 and ends at nightfall on January 2 on the secular calendar.