Hanukkah – The Story and How We Celebrate

The Story of Hanukkah 

Hanukkah is the eight-day festival of light that begins on the eve of the 25th of the Jewish month of Kislev.

We celebrate during Hanukkah the triumph of light over darkness, of purity over adulteration, of spirituality over materiality.

More than 21 centuries ago, the Holy Land was ruled by the Seleucids (Syrian-Greeks), who sought to forcefully Hellenize the people of Israel.

Against all odds, a small band of faithful Jews defeated one of the mightiest armies on earth, drove the Greeks from the land, reclaimed the Holy Temple in Jerusalem and rededicated it to the service of G-d.

When they sought to light the Temple’s menorah (the seven-branched candelabrum), they found only a single cruse of olive oil that had escaped contamination by the Greeks!

And then a miracle happened. The one-day supply of olive oil burned for eight days until new oil could be prepared under conditions of ritual purity.

How do we Celebrate?

Every year Hanukkah brings together family and friends to commemorate this miraculous event. All around the world we celebrate with eight nights of festivities.

At the heart of the festival is the nightly menorah (candelabrum) lighting.

We light a single flame on the first night, two on the second evening, and so on until the eighth night of Hanukkah, when all eight lights are kindled.

During these nights we play games with a dreidel – a spinning top inscribed with the Hebrew letters nun, gimel, hei and shin, an acronym for Nes Gadol Hayah Sham, “a great miracle happened there”- (we will share with you how to play this game in the next posts).

On these nights we give Hanukkah Gelt, gifts of money, to children.

And of course, we eat a lot of food during the celebrations. What would Hanukkah be without the food?

Since it is the festival of lights, traditional foods include those that are fried in oil, representing the holy oil in the temple. Potato latkes and doughnuts (sufganiyot) are a must.  Check for the recipes soon!