Gingerbread cookies in the shape of Stars of David and decorated with a Hanukkiah candelabrum. You may have heard Hanukkah referred to as "The Festival of Lights" and might already be familiar with a menorah. Menorahs have long been a symbol used in Judaism, and when the altar was rebuilt by Maccabee and co. The soldiers only had enough oil to light the menorah for a single night, but the story goes that the little bit of oil lasted for eight full nights. Thus: the Miracle of Hanukkah. That's why the celebration lasts eight nights.
Read More. Although most people use the word menorah in the context of Hanukkah, what observers are actually lighting is called a hanukkiah ha-noo-kee-ah.
It looks very similar to a menorah with eight prongs, but has a ninth candle, the Shamash, used to light the other candles. What are some other ways to observe the holiday? Many modern Jewish families celebrate by lighting the hanukkiah. One candle per night of Hanukkah is lit, like Hebrew is read, from right to left.
People might also play dreidel games and eat certain foods like sufganiyot similar to jelly donuts and latkes fried potato pancakes. Both foods are fried in oil, commemorative of the miracle of the Maccabees' long-burning oil. Important note: There is an ongoing and spirited debate about whether latkes are best served with applesauce or sour cream. To mark the holiday, Jews light one candle each evening on a nine-branched menorah. The ninth candle — the shamash, "helper" or "attendant" — is used to light the other eight.
The lit menorahs are displayed prominently, often in windows. Playing with tops called dreidels and exchanging gifts are other Hanukkah traditions to celebrate the holiday. Don't forget about gelt, chocolate coins adults give to children during Hanukkah a symbol of the money that Jewish parents would give their children in lieu of gifts; "gelt" means money in Yiddish.
Larger family gatherings during the pandemic are likely not happening this year and are not recommended , meaning it will be up to individual households to figure out in-person gift exchanges and dreidel spinning. I know I'm hoping for gelt in the mail this season. No, at least not in the traditional religious sense. In fact, if you Google "Hanukkah not big deal," you'll find a plethora of articles that can tell you as much.
That said, it's still meaningful for other reasons. When I asked fellow Jews what makes Hanukkah special on my Twitter feed last year, my followers talked about "latkes," the potato pancakes typically consumed on the holiday. People eat doughnuts filled with jelly, or sufganiyot, too. Get it? Fried food. Like other Jewish holidays, haunting Hebrew hymns are part of the occasion. And who can forget about the presents?
Growing up it was fun to look forward to a different gift every night — some less expensive like pajamas and art supplies. The best and probably worst year, for the adults in my family, anyway was when my grandparents bought each of the dozen or so grandchildren Razor scooters.
As I got older, the tradition shifted into one large gift for the period, though we always still light the candles. You can thank or not thank American Jews for that. It's debatable whether it was a direct response to Christmas or an effort to encourage young people to make time for synagogue, reports Vox. For comparison's sake: This is the same bible that included my Torah portion, Bamidbar, which was literally just about counting tribes around a sacred tabernacle.
Since the calendars follow different cycles, a holiday the falls on a fixed date on one calendar will fall on a different day each year on the other. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica , Hanukkah is a festival that "reaffirms the ideals of Judaism and commemorates the rededication of the Second Temple of Jerusalem.
The festival is celebrated by lighting the menorah each night, reciting special prayers, and eating delicious foods. Each year, Hanukkah is eight days long. This amount of time has significance, as described in the Talmud.
According to Encyclopedia Britannic a, "When Judas Maccabeus entered the [Second Temple of Jerusalem], he found only a small jar of oil that had not been defiled by Antiochus.
The jar contained only enough oil to burn for one day, but miraculously the oil burned for eight days until new consecrated oil could be found, establishing the precedent that the festival should last eight days.
Want to learn more about this holiday? These are the most interesting facts to know about Hanukkah. Product Reviews. Home Ideas.
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