Hanukkah: pigs in the Temple

Since Hanukkah, also spelled Chanukkah, begins at sundown December 4 or 25 Kislev, I figured I should try to understand it better. So here's what I've learned:

Hanukkah was not a festival appointed by God like Sukkot, Passover, and the other appointed times. The origin: Antiochus IV a successor of Alexander the Great, oppressed and killed Jews; he banned Jews from celebrating the Sabbath and festivals, reading the Torah, circumcising their sons, and other Jewish practices. Antiochus also desecrated the Temple, requiring the sacrifice of pigs (a non-kosher animal) on the altar. With much determination, the Jewish people led by Mattathias the Hasmonean and his son Judah Maccabee, revolted and succeeded to overthrow the government on 25 Kislev, 164 BCE.

Now the Temple needed to be rededicated. For centuries, the menorah (candelabrum) was lit in the Temple every day and was supposed to burn throughout the night, every night. Because the Jews were had won this battle, they could now rededicate the Temple, resume daily practice, and once again light the menorah, but there was very little oil left that had not been defiled by the Greeks.

The Hanukkah miracle: there was only enough oil to burn for one day, but it burned for eight days. The eight day Hanukkah festival, also called Festival of Lights, was declared to commemorate this miracle.

Important note: the holiday commemorates the rededication of the Temple and the the miracle of the oil, not the military victory: Jews do not glorify war.

More information:
http://www.jewfaq.org/holiday7.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanukkah