Every winter the Jewish community gathers in their homes and in public places to celebrate religious freedom. The holiday is called Chanukah, which is Hebrew for “dedication.” The holiday recalls the time during the Second Temple period when Greek-Assyrian influence (political, cultural and religious) held sway in Israel. At first it took the form of a mild, but persuasive acculturation - where Jews were often drawn to this influence. There arose an internal conflict between those Jews who were adopting Greek ways and the more traditional Jews who despised this wholesale abandonment of the Jewish traditions and laws. The Greek …