Retailers and the media spend a great deal of time advertising Christmas. During the holiday season, commercials and programs often feature Christmas themes. When you go shopping, rarely will you find a store without some type of Christmas decoration. What about Hanukkah? Over time Hanukkah has became more like Christmas. Read on to find out about the 8 days of lights!
Hanukkah is celebrated sometime in the period during late November and late December based on the Jewish calendar. Parents try to make Hanukkah extra special so their children will not feel left out because of all the Christmas stuff going on around them. Hanukkah lasts eight nights. Each night people light the hankukkiyah. The hankukkiyah lighting represents the miracle of oil. According to history, once Jewish revolutionaries took the temple from the Syrians they wanted to rededicate it to God. They lit the hanukkiyah but only had enough oil for one night but surprisingly it lasted for eight nights.
Another Hanukkah tradition is spinning the dredel. It has four sides with a Hebrew letter on each side. If you put the Hebrew letters together, it means a great miracle happened in Israel. This refers to the oil. Children usually spin the dredel for chocolate coins, candy, raisins or nuts.
Last but not least, there is lots of great Hanukkah food. Hanukkah celebrates the miracle of oil so it makes sense that there are a lot of fried foods for this holiday. Traditional Hanukkah foods include latkes (potato pancakes) and sufganiyot ( jelly filled donuts which are covered with confectioner’s sugar).
Well, I hope you learned a little bit about Hanukkah. If you want more information, visit http://judaism.about.com/od/holidays/a/hanukkah.htm. Hanukkah has some great traditions. My favorite so far is the sutganiyot!
Happy Hanukkah!
This blog has inaccuracies and is insulting to religious Jews who unlike some of our Christian counterparts know that this holiday is a religious holiday not the secular holiday Christmas is turning into for so many. Jewish parents don't compete with Christmas. Jewish parents educate their children and show them that tradition is to be followed and respected. Hanukkah is a minor holiday unlike Christmas which is probably one of the two most important Christian holidays. It's a real shame that so many people just celebrate "present day" not the actual holiday. I can guess what you do. Your dreidel information is inaccurate. You are obviously neither Jewish or a religious Christian by the way you discuss religious holidays. You have no idea what you are talking about and are oblivious to how insulting your ignorance is. Write about something you do know. Religion is obviously not it.
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