The Story of Chanukah

Antiochus ruled our country nearly 2200 years ago. He wanted all the Jews to worship the Greek Gods. He had many soldiers. The soldiers asked the Jews to bow before the Greek Gods and statues. When the Jews did not want to bow, they were killed.
Mattathias lived in Modiin. He had 5 sons: Simon, Elazar, Judah, Jochanan and Jonathan. All his sons were brave and knew how to fight. The bravest of all the sons was Judah the Maccabee. Judah was the leader of the fighters. The fighters wanted to free Jerusalem and the Holy Temple. They fought very bravely and defeated the strong Greek army. They recaptured Jerusalem and on the 25th of Kislev 165 B.C.E. Judah went into the Temple.
Judah and his men cleaned the Temple and dedicated it once again to the service of HaShem. This is why the holiday is called "Chanukah" which means dedication. Judah and his men wanted to light the Menorah in the Temple. They looked for oil but found a small jar that contained oil for one day only. A miracle happened and the oil lasted for eight days. So we light candles for eight days in order to remember this miracle of Chanukah.