Chanukah/Hanukkah/Chanukkah/Hannukah is the eight-day Jewish festival of lights that is celebrated in the month of December. Because it is so close to Christmas, people sometimes confuse the concept and assume that this particular Jewish holiday has great historical and religious significance (such as Christmas, which celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ.) In reality, Chanukah/Hanukkah/Chanukkah/Hannukah is one of the lesser holidays that Jews celebrate; however it is, arguably, the most fun.
Spelling Bee
As you can see, Chanukah/Hanukkah/Chanukkah/Hannukah has several spellings. In the Hebrew language, Chanukah is pronounced with the letter chet, which is the eighth letter of the alphabet. The “ch” sound is actually guttural and throaty; like in “Rachmaninoff” or “Bach” … there is no English equivalent to this sound. Hanukkah with the letter “H” is the closest thing in English to the sound of chet so the word has adapted these spellings. Personally, I prefer Chanukah because that is what I was raised with but for the sake of consistency here, I will refer to the holiday with any or all of these spellings; Chanukah, Hanukkah, Chanukkah and Hannukah. The word Chanukah means “dedication.”
When?
Actually, the first question is why. Why are the dates different every year? Unlike the secular (Gregorian) calendar that we use which is based on the earth’s rotation around the sun, the Hebrew calendar is a lunar one, meaning that each month begins and ends with a new moon. There are 354 days in the 12 months of the Hebrew calendar; a 13th month is added every few years in order to catch up to our secular year of 365 days. Back to the question of when; the celebration of Chanukah/Hanukkah/Chanukkah/Hannukah begins on the 25th day of the Jewish month of Kislev.
What and Why?
In the second century BCE, the land of Judea (the mountainous southern part of what is now Israel) was ruled by a Syrian king named Antiochus, who ordered the Jewish people living there to reject their religion and observe Greek traditions and culture. Antiochus outlawed the study of the Torah, the observance of the Jewish Sabbath and other religious customs. Many Jews called Hellenists adapted to the Greek culture but many did not; those people were killed for practicing the Jewish religion. The last straw was when the Greeks ordered the Jews to sacrifice a pig to a Greek God while in the Jewish temple. Pigs are not kosher and considered “unclean.”
The Miracles
The Jews began to revolt against the Syrians. Led by Mattathias and later his son, Judah, their small number of followers went into the hills of Judea. Judah and his four brothers chose the name of Maccabee, which means “hammer,” and fought back against King Antiochus, who had sent thousands of armed troops to crush the Jews. After three years and with primitive and limited means, the Maccabees succeeded in conquering the Syrians; driving them from Judea. The Maccabees reclaimed the Jerusalem temple which had been used for Greek worship. This was the first miracle.
The temple needed to be repaired and cleaned. When the cleansing was finished, the Jews rededicated the temple on the 25th day of Kislev. The Jewish people wanted to light the “eternal light” of the menorah (candelabrum) but they could find only one jar of pure oil, which would have been enough to burn for only one day; it would take eight days to prepare new oil. Miraculously, the oil in the menorah burned for eight days. This was the second miracle.
The Festival of Lights
The actual eight-day festival was created to celebrate the long-time burning of the oil (and, some scholars say, the victory of the revolt although others disagree, saying that Jews do not celebrate war). In the early years of the celebration, Jews lit their menorahs with oils but in modern times, we mostly use candles. The candles are lit from right to left, using a “helper” candle, called the Shammash or Shammas.
Traditions
Hanukkah traditions vary; families celebrate the holiday in different ways. Typically, to commemorate the oil-lit miracle of Chanukah, we eat foods that are fried in oil, like latkes (pronounced “lot-ka,” which are fried potato cakes that can be eaten with sour cream or applesauce) and jelly donuts. We light the menorah each night, and sing the prayers in Hebrew and English, in addition to other songs like “Rock of Ages” (Maoz Tzur) and “Chanukah, Oh Chanukah.” Dancing is often part of the celebration.
While gift-giving was not part of the original festival of lights, it is popular in most modern-day Jewish communities, much like Christmas gift-giving is popular for Christians and non-Christians alike. Hannukah gifts include gelt (pronounced with a hard “g”), which is money; dollar bills and coins … both the spendable and edible kinds.
Some parents give their children gifts on each night of Chanukah, some only on the first or last night. In my family when I was a little girl, my two brothers and I received some gelt, (in cash and chocolate) and, on the first night only, one gift; a game or toy (there was one year when I received a life-sized walking-doll with long straight hair. I loved it because it was different from my hair which was short and curly). There were latkes, jelly donuts, dreidels, (pronounced “dray-duhl,” which is a spinning top) and hard candy. I remember Chanukah parties at the synagogue where we attended Sunday school and temple services and I remember making our own dreidels out of paper and yes, out of clay.
Dreidel
Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel, I made it out of clay, and when it’s dry and ready, o’ Dreidel I will play!
Dreidel is a Yiddish word for “spinning top.” It is four-sided with a flat top and spindle in the center. Each side is flat and marked with a Hebrew letter; Nun, Gimmel/Gimel (hard “g,”) Hey/Hei and Shin. The flat sides are angled to come to a rounded point, which rests on the hard surface for spinning. The letters stand for "Nes Gadol Hayah Sham" which means "a great miracle happened there," referring to the miracle of the oil lasting for eight days. In today’s day and age, dreidels are often made of plastic or wood, although they do come in glass, brass and silver for display purposes.
When King Antiochus outlawed Torah study, parents were forbidden to teach their children about Judaism — but they did so anyway, in secret. To keep parents and teachers from being arrested when Syrian officials came to homes or schools, Jewish children would stop their religious lessons and play the dreidel game.
The dreidel game is played with small items such as pennies, raisins and nuts. You play it by “betting” on which side will land face-up and then being rewarded or penalized for the particular letter you choose. If the dreidel drops with a Gimmel on top, you get the whole pot; Hey takes half the pot; Nun (pronounced like “good’ with the letter “n” replacing the “g” and “d”) means you get nothing, and it is the next player’s turn. Shin means you have to put items into the pot.
Chanukah/Hanukkah/Chanukkah/Hannukah comes but once a year, so no matter how you want to spell it, let us celebrate!
For more reading on Chanukah/Hanukkah/Chanukkah/Hannukah, check out these links:
The Jewish Website: Chanukah
Judaism 101: Chanukkah
Chabad: Jewish Holidays: Chanukah
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