This poignant photo of Jewish soldiers preparing to observe the holiday of Hanukkah recalls the events that took place in ancient times, when Judah Maccabee and his soldiers conquered the Greek-Syrian oppressors, who had defiled the Temple.

Here Israeli soldiers light candles for Hanukkah before being deployed to the Gaza Strip, near the Israeli-Gaza border in southern Israel.

AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov