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What does the al ha-nissim prayer say about the Hanukkah story?
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Hanukkah
Lighting the menorah in celebration of the Jewish festival of Hanukkah.
The al ha-nissim ("for the miracles") prayer is a central part of the Hanukkah liturgy that expresses gratitude to God for the events surrounding the Maccabean victory.1
Regarding the Hanukkah story, the prayer highlights the divine deliverance of the Jewish people during their struggle against the Seleucid forces of Antiochus IV Epiphanes. Specifically, the prayer offers thanks to God for delivering the "strong into the hands of the weak" and the "evil into the hands of the good," emphasizing the triumph of the Maccabees in their defense of Judaism and their religious practices against forced Hellenization.21