After greeting...

Immediately after greeting little Chaim on the following evening, the Third Light began:

I’m going to tell you about Yehuda’s younger brother Elazar.

The wicked Antiochus died, and his son Eopater became king of Syria. Eopater was no better than his father. He hired the biggest army for those days. It was composed of one hundred thousand infantry men, twenty thousand horsemen, and thirty-two trained war elephants. They all had armor and helmets and were veterans of previous wars. When the sun rose and shone upon the glittering array of armor, the reflected light dazzled the eye for miles around.

Determined to fight on to the last man, Yehuda and his valiant warriors attacked the enemy, but not before they had prayed to G-d to help them in their holy cause.

It was a desperate battle, but Yehuda and his men fought on bravely. They destroyed one battalion after another, but there seemed no end to the swarming mass of the enemy. Suddenly Elazar noticed a war-elephant that was more elaborately decorated than the others, and heavily guarded. "There the king must be riding," thought Elazar. "If I kill him the victory will be ours." With no thought for his own life, Elazar rushed in the direction of the elephant. He fought his way through the guard, killing right and left, until he reached the decorated elephant. Elazar slew the elephant and its distinguished rider. But here the heroic Elazar also lost his life, caught beneath the crushing weight of the elephant as the huge beast collapsed from its wounds.

But it was not the king whom Elazar had killed but one of his top generals; nevertheless, Elazar’s act of bravery inspired his brethren and they fought on grimly. The odds were too heavily against them, however, and they found themselves in grave danger.

Suddenly a messenger brought news to the king of an uprising back in his own land. His son was attempting to overthrow him. Antiochus Eopater decided to call off this battle and make peace with Yehuda. Thus the Land of Israel was once again saved at the very moment when all seemed lost.

"That’s all for the present," concluded the Third Chanukah Light, "Happy Chanukah!"