Every year , unremarkably in mid- to late - December on the Western calendar , Kislev 25 on the Hebrew calendar , Jews around the world keep the vacation of Hanukkah . Also known as theFestival of Lights , the holiday remembers one peculiar instance of triumph over religious persecution , when the Jews were able to elude oppression at the hands of Antiochus , a Syrian world-beater .
To masses who are n’t Judaic , Hanukkah is often the most well - known of the Jewish holidays . Hanukkah does not have as much religious importance as the Jewish High Holidays — Rosh HashanahandYom Kippur — but it is one of the most entertaining holidays on the Jewish calendar for adults and children likewise . In this article , you ’ll learn the basics of the Hanukkah celebration .
What is Hanukkah?
Hanukkah is aneight - night celebration . The Hanukkah celebration admit light the candles of theHanukiyah(in English - speaking countries this is often called aMenorah , which is the Hebrew word for a candelabra ) on each day of the vacation , wreak with the dreidel , eatinglatkesand commute Hanukkah sugar .
Like another famous winter - prison term holiday , Christmas , Hanukkah is about history . The celebration of Hanukkah is a commemoration of an event that happened more than 2,000 years ago .
In 167 B.C.E. , the Syrian kingAntiochus IVbegan to illegalise Jewish religious praxis and force Jews to adopt Hellenic rituals . His men took command of the Jews ' Holy Temple in Jerusalem , loot it and erect an graven image of a Greek god there . One Judaic family , the Hasmoneans ( led by Mattityahu and his five sons ) , decide to take a stand against the persecution . The Greek forces arrive in the township of Modiin , near Jerusalem . It was here that after deny to violate his own faith by beg to the Hellenic god Zeus , Mattityahu assail the Greek soldiers .
This action began theJewish revolt . Mattityahu and his sons became known as theMaccabees , which stand for " men who are as unattackable as hammers " in Hebrew . The small regular army , lead by Mattityahu ’s most celebrated son , Judah Maccabee , fight down sizable Hellenic force . In 165 B.C.E. , the Maccabees were triumphant . On the 25th of the Hebrew month Kislev , the Maccabees reclaimed the Holy Temple .
They decide to rededicate the temple — the Scripture " Hanukkah " mean allegiance . The Jewish army was ineffectual to find enough fossil oil to light theMenorah , or candle holder , to be used in the servicing . The Maccabees found only one bottleful of vegetable oil , enough for only a single night . Miraculously , the oil color lasted eight nights , giving the Jews time to produce more oil .
The holiday of Hanukkah commemorates this miracle . By get off candle for eight night , beginning every twelvemonth on the25th of Kislev(usually in December on the westerly calendar , but not always ) , Jews observe the triumph of the Maccabees , the rededication of the Holy Temple and the miracle of the crude hold out for eight days .
The Hanukiyah
There are a variety of traditions and practices besiege the festivity of Hanukkah .
The most significant , and most recognized , Hanukkah custom is the inflammation of the candelabrum , jazz as theHanukiyah(or theMenorah ) . TheHanukiyahholds nine candles , eight representing the eight night of the holiday plus theShamash , the cd used to light the other candle . The first cd is lit on Erev Hanukkah , the night before the vacation starts .
One inserts the candles into theHanukiyahfrom right wing to left , one candle for each mean solar day of the Hanukkah miracle ( for instance , on the second twenty-four hours of Hanukkah , there are two even candles and a Shamash candela in the Hanukiyah ) . Blessings are aver while someone lights the cd from will to right . harmonize to tradition , the left - most taper defend the most recent day of the miracle , and one lights this candle first because he is most grateful that the oil endure yet another day . As each Clarence Day drop dead , theHanukiyahbecomes brighter and brighter .
These are the blessings for the light of theHanukiyah :
The Dreidel
The dreidel is a four - sided spinning top with a Hebrew letter on each side . The dreidel game was played during time of Antiochus , before the Judaic revolt . Because Jews could be kill for practise their religion , when they gathered to canvass the Torah , or holy Good Book , they would have a dreidel William Christopher Handy . If they were discovered by Greek soldiers , they could sham to be playing with it .
The game is usually played with each participant receiving a number of coin or confect . Before spinning the dreidel , each player assign money in the pot , orkupah . On each side of the dreidel is a Hebrew letter : nun , gimmel , heyorshin . Each player spin the dreidel and ensure what letter is facing up when it falls . Each missive represent a different termination , from winning nothing to contract the whole kupah .
Hanukkah Gelt
The wordgeltmeans " money " in Yiddish . On Hanukkah , there is a custom of sacrifice real or drinking chocolate coin as presents to children . So where did this come from ?
There are varying hypothesis . Hanukkah mean " dedication , " but it is linguistically related tohinnukh , which means " education . " Jewish scholar Maimonidesdescribed geltas " an motivator for you [ minor ] to learn Torah in good order . " In the 19th C , poor Judaic kid in the Middle East and North Africa went threshold to room access during Hanukkah to take in money in rally for burn particular grasses as protective covering against the Evil Eye . In the twentieth century , adults gave children coins as they taught them about their heritage and tell them the account of the Maccabees .
The hot chocolate coin may have sprung from Europe in the nineteenth century when Jews there were very involved in making chocolate . " forge coins out of chocolate would have allowed pitiful tiddler to take pleasure in the develop Jewish tradition of receiving lettuce at Hanukkah time,“wrote the website Reform Judaism .
Hanukkah Foods
Latkes
memorialize the miracle of the oil colour that lasted for eight nighttime , Hanukkah foods are usually fried in oil colour . Latkesare the most notable model of these fry food . Latkesare potato pancakes find in many Judaic homes during Hanukkah . They are made by frying small pancakes of grated potatoes held together by testis and/or milk . They are unremarkably eaten with apple sauce or sour pick .
Sufganiyot
In Israel , the usance is to servesufganiyot , jelly doughnuts fried in oil , on Hanukkah . There , you could purchase them on almost any street corner . They are very standardized to the jelly anchor ring we sleep together in America . They are filled with jam and covered with powdered sugar . Sufganiyotare a reminder of the cakes hastily make for the Maccabees as they went into battle .
In our day and age , Hanukkah has taken on some additional meaning because it is so near to Christmas . today , people often shop for Hanukkah giving like they do for Christmas gifts , and theHanukiyahhas become a recognized symbolic representation of the vacation time of year .
The Festival of Lights is a time for Jewish mob to triumph , play games , give gifts and illumine the candles . It commemorates a victory over spiritual persecution and the importance of a 2,000 - year - old miracle .
