The public is invited to the Chanukah candle lighting ceremonies in the Cave of the Patriarchs & Matriarchs.

 

Sunday December 18, 2022 – First candle
4:40 pm – Brit Milah Hall
Amitai Cohen, head of the Kiryat Arba – Hebron Religious Council
4:15pm – Central Inner Courtyard
Lt. Col. Yishai Rosilio, commander of the IDF Judea Brigade with the participation of commanders, and soldiers.

Monday December 19, 2022 – Second candle
4:40 pm - Brit Milah Hall
Eliyahu Libman, head of the Kiryat Arba local council
4:45 pm – Central Inner Courtyard
Noam Waldman, head of the Nir Yeshiva of Kiryat Arba with the participation of teachers and students.

Tuesday December 20, 2022 – Third candle
4:40 pm – Brit Milah Hall
Eyal Gelman, head of the Hebron local council.
5:00 pm – Central Inner Courtyard
Yossi Golan, commander of the Judea regional police force with the participation of officers.
7:00 pm - IDF Lt. Colonel Salim Saad with the participation of soldiers and military officials.

Wednesday December 21, 2022 – Fourth candle
4:40 pm – Brit Milah Hall
Yishai Fleisher, international spokesperson of the Jewish Community of Hebron.
6:00 pm – Central Inner Courtyard
Corporal Sa’ar Avraham, Sergeant Major of the Cave of the Patriarchs & Matriarchs unit with the participation of Police Chief Shadi Saank.
8:00 pm – Central Courtyard
Chabad of Hebron followed by festive dancing and a “caravan of light”.

Thursday December 22, 2022 – Fifth candle
4:40 pm – Brit Milah Hall
Shai Glick, head of the Btsalmo organization, handicapped access advocate.

Sunday December 25, 2022 – Eighth candle
4:40 pm – Brit Milah Hall
Shai Tzarfati, son of the late Rabbi Moshe Tzarfati, victim of the Meron disaster and long-time IDF rabbi with the participation of family and friends.
 
History

Hebron was the site of a decisive battle during the rebellion of the Hasmoneans against the invading Seleucid Empire. The story of Hanukkah in which the heroic Maccabees fought to reclaim the Temple from the imperialist Antiochus is well known.
 
Hebron's role in the Maccabean Revolt is mentioned in the apocryphal Book of the Maccabees and in the works of the great historian Josephus.
 
Many of the Hasmonean battles took place in the Mount Hebron region, known today as the Hebron Hills, or Har Hevron regional council. Communities such as Beit Tzur were sites of fierce battles won by the Judean rebels.
 
I Maccabees 5:65  states:
"Afterward went Judas forth with his brethren, and 20 fought against the children of Esau in the land toward the south, where he smote Hebron, and the towns thereof, and pulled down the fortress of it, and burned the towers thereof round about."
 
The Antiquities of the Jews by Josephus Flavius Book 12 Chapter 8 paragraph 6 states: 
 
"But Judas and his brethren did not leave off fighting with the Idumeans, but pressed upon them on all sides, and took from them the city of Hebron, and demolished all its fortifications, and set all its towers on fire, and burnt the country of the foreigners, and the city Marissa."
The Jewish War by Josephus Flavius Book IV Chapter 87, paragraph 7 states: 
 
"Simon, having thus, beyond expectation, penetrated into Idumaea without bloodshed, first of all, by a sudden attack, made himself master of the city of Hebron, where he possessed himself of a vast booty, exclusive of the large supplies of corn which he seized."
 
"If we are to credit the inhabitants, Hebron is not only a town of greater antiquity than any in that country, but even than Memphis in Egypt, its years being computed at two thousand three hundred. They relate that Abram, the progenitor of the Jews, here fixed his abode after his departure from Mesopotamia, and that from hence his posterity went down into Egypt. Their monuments are still shown in that town, of the most beautiful marble, and of exquisite workmanship. At the distance of six furlongs, is pointed out an immense turpentine-tree, which, if tradition is to be believed, has continued there from the creation until the present time."

 

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