1,412. Beginning the Laws of Chanukah

Hilchos Megillah v’Chanukah 2:18

All the books of Neviim (the Prophets) and Kesuvim (the Writings) will no longer be necessary in messianic times except for the Book of Esther. This book will always be relevant, along with the five books of the Torah and the laws of the Oral Torah; these will never become unnecessary. Even though the memory of the tribulations endured by the Jewish people will be nullified, as per Isaiah 65:16 – “The previous difficulties will be forgotten and they will be hidden from My sight” – the celebration of Purim will never cease as per Esther 9:28: “These days of Purim will not pass from among the Jewish people, nor will remembrance of them cease from their descendants.”

Hilchos Megillah v’Chanukah 3:1

In the second Temple period, the occupying Greeks issued decrees against the Jews in an attempt to cause them to assimilate. Accordingly, they prohibited the observance of Torah and mitzvos. The Greeks violated not only the Jews’ personal property but also their daughters. They trespassed in the Temple, trashed it and rendered the things there ritually impure. The Jews suffered under this oppression until God showed them mercy and rescued them. The Hasmoneans, a priestly family, overcame the Greeks and saved the Jews from their control. They appointed a king from the kohanim and Israel regained sovereignty for more than 200 years, when the second Temple was destroyed.