Hanukkah is the eight-day Jewish celebration also known as the Festival of Lights. Hanukkah takes place Sunday, December 22nd to Monday, December 30th in 2019.
Hanukkah commemorates the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem 2,000+ years ago when a small band of Jews defeated their oppressors. When the Jews started to light the temple’s menorah (a nine-branched candelabra), they found only enough untainted oil to burn one night. But the candles instead miraculously burned eight nights.
In Hebrew, the language from which the Jewish festival originates, the word for Hanukkah is not easily translated into English. This accounts for why there are different spelling choices. Hanukkah and Chanukah are the two versions that are most widely used and accepted
The Menorah and the Celebration. At the heart of the festival is the nightly menorah lighting. On each of the eight days of Hanukkah, the general custom is to light the menorah after nightfall except for Friday, when the candles are lit shortly before sunset. On the first night, one candle is lit along with the shamash. The shamash is typically placed above or below the others and its candle is used to light the other eight candles (shamash meaning “attendant” or “helper” in Hebrew). Each night, one additional candle is lit by the shamash until all eight candles are lit together on the final night of the festival. The menorah lights can be either candles, or oil and wicks.
It is traditional to eat fried foods to commemorate the miracle which occurred with oil and customary to give money gifts to children, play dreidel games and have special blessings recited, often to a traditional melody, before the menorah is lit. Traditional songs are sung afterward. The menorah is also lit in synagogues and other public places.
Dreidel: The Hanukkah Game. During Hanukkah, it is customary to play with a “dreidel” (a four-sided spinning top bearing the Hebrew letters, nun, gimmel, hei and shin, an acronym for nes gadol hayah sham, “a great miracle happened there”. Dreidel is a Yiddish word which comes from the word drei, which means to turn, or spin. The game is usually played for coins, nuts, or other items, which is won or lost, based on which letter the dreidel lands when it is spun.
When Hanukkah Happens. The date varies each year because Hanukkah begins on the twenty-fifth day of the Jewish month of Kislev. The Jewish calendar is primarily based on the lunar cycle, and its dates fluctuate with respect to other calendar systems. The first day of Hanukkah can fall anywhere between November 28th and December 26th.
HAPPY HANUKKAH TO THOSE WHO ARE CELEBRATING.
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