The gang go back in time to find out about Judah Maccabee.
As usual, the full script is below.
[Scene: the present]
John: I’ve just been reading about the history of Hanukkah.
Sarah D.: And what did you find out?
John: It all started when the Selucid Empire invaded the independent country of Judea. They went into Jerusalem, and took over the great temple of the Jewish people.
Sarah K.: John, we have an idea.
Emma: Let’s go back in time and see what happened.
Greg: Great idea! Let me turn on my time machine….
[Scene: 2200 years ago]
Soldier 1 [evil laughter]: It’s great being a solider in the Selucid army.
Soldier 2: We get to invade other people’s temples, and set up statues of Zeus.
Soldier 3: And the food is good, too. Ham for dinner tonight!
Soldier 1: Yum, ham! And you know what?
Soldier 3: Pigs are considered unclean here in the land of Judea.
Soldier 2: So eating ham in their temple is especially evil!
Soldier 1, Soldier 2, and Soldier 3 [evil laughter]: Mwah-hah-hah-hah!
Captain Greg: Captain Greg and Captain Dan reporting, Judah Maccabee, sir.
Captain Dan: The soldiers of the Selucid Empire are in the middle of eating dinner.
Judah Maccabee: This is our chance. Get ready to attack!
Captain Dan: Come on, troops, we’re going in!
Judah Maccabee: For Judea!
Captain Dan: For freedom!
Captain Greg: No more ham in the temple!
Soldier 2 [in the middle of eating]: Did you just hear something?
Soldier 1 [in the middle of eating]: It’s just your imagination.
Soldier 3 [in the middle of eating]: No, it’s Judah Maccabbee and her soldiers!
Soldier 1, Soldier 2, and Soldier 3 [terrified]: Ahhh! Run away, run away!
Judah Maccabee: Hey, we won!
Captain Dan: Look at these disgusting pig guts they left behind.
Captain Greg: Oh no! The flame on the eternal light has gone out!
Judah Maccabee: You two clean up. I’ll go find some holy oil for the eternal light.
Captain Dan: You clean up the pig guts. I’m going to get rid of this statue of Zeus.
Judah Maccabee: Uh oh, there’s only enough holy oil for the eternal light for one day.
Captain Greg: And it will take eight days to make new holy oil.
Captain Dan: Let’s light the eternal flame and see what happens.
[Scene: the present]
Emma: So what happened after that?
Greg: It was a miracle, the holy oil burned for eight days.
Dan: And that’s why Hanukkah lasts for eight days.
Sarah D.: So Hanukkah is really a celebration of religious freedom.
John: And it’s a reminder that sometimes we have to fight for our religious freedom.
British police box image: CC BY SA 2.0 Immanuel Burton