Historically, the Jews had a complicated political relationship with the Greeks and Syrians, sometimes good, sometimes not so good. Around 166 BCE the Jews had been driven out of Jerusalem by the Syrians, and the temple had been defiled.  Defiling temples is generally a bad move (cf. the Trojan War).  The Jews returned in a massive revolt and retook the city and temple.  The Hannukah bit comes in here:  there was only a little oil left in the temple menorah, a lamp that had been kept lit at all times, night and day.  The tiny bit of oil lasted 8 days (until they were able to get more).

Hannukah was a fairly minor holiday until Jewish Americans  began to see it, in the last 50 years or so, as a kind of cultural equivalent to Christmas, not in the religious but in the social sense.   If you poke around on the internet, you’ll see that even Jewish communities generally present it in a merry light.

I am in favor of holidays in general, and I have no problem whatsoever with reinterpretations of traditions so that they are meaningful and useful to me.  Not too interested in the commemoration of a battle, nor in keeping up with Christmas commercialism.   But I do like the idea of taking time out each day to meditate on light.