CELEBRATING THE FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS

The holiday season is upon us. Bright lights, presents, and supposedly, peace and love abounds.

Kicking off the season this year is the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, which begins on November 28th. Let’s get this out of the way. You have probably seen the word Hanukkah spelled in a variety of ways…Channukah, Hannukah, etc. Believe it or not, they are all correct. Because there is no way to translate the Hebrew sounds to English there is no wrong way to spell this joyous holiday.

The word Hanukkah literally means “dedication.” In the year 168 B.C.E., the Syrian king sent soldiers to Jerusalem. They desecrated the Jewish temple, and he offered the Jews two options: conversion or death.

Some rebel Jews, known as The Maccabees, rose up and revolted against the Syrian Greeks. Despite being outnumbered the Maccabees won battle after battle. This allowed the Jews to freely practice their religion without restrictions from their oppressors.

As the story goes, more than just a military victory, the Maccabees had to rededicate their desecrated temple.

According to legend, they had to immediately relight the torch that gave light to the temple. They could only find a single jar of oil, enough for one day.

The miracle is that it lasted a total of 8 days while a messenger was sent to secure more oil.
Modern Jews celebrate this miracle by lighting the “menorah,” a candelabra with 8 branches of candles and one in the middle used to light each candle and commemorate the single jar of oil.

The candles are lit from left to right while a blessing is being recited. It has become a tradition to give presents on each of the 8 nights and, of course, there is always food involved.

Traditional foods include potato “latkes,” which are a type of delicious pancake, as well as donuts and other things fried in oil.

In places with mostly Christians, it has become known as “Jewish Christmas.”