Learn more about the eight day of Hanukkah , or Chanukah , and traditions from potato pancake to brightness .
Hanukkah is a joyous time , when screw single get together for eight night to babble traditional songs , spin the dreidel , and portion out a feast ofbrisketand other traditional foods atfestive board . During Hanukkah , or Chanukah , deep-fried foods , likelatkes , are popular way to commemorate a miracle that happened more than two thousand years ago .
In menage decorate with traditionalblue - and - white colors , families display their menorah ( a character of candelabrum ) in a significant place . During the Festival of Lights , Jews light the eight candles and say a prayer of gratitude .
Credit: Element5 Digital/Unsplash
Sharing the Light
Traditionally , kinfolk have render moolah , or money , to mark the holiday , but these day , children get burnt umber coin instead . The practice of exchanging gifts during Hanukkah started film off in the fifties , as a nod to post - war consumerism and the fact that the vacation run to decrease around the same time as Christmas .
These days , the concept of tzedakah — Greek valerian or justice — is tie to Hanukkah . To stigmatize the holiday , some volunteer for an brass , donate money , or perform an act of kindness , such as making dinner party for an elderly neighbor .
How Hanukkah Started
Like many Jewish holidays , Hanukkah has several different bequest and meanings . First and first of all , Hanukkah is a diachronic holiday . It memorialise the successful rebellion , in the second century B.C.E. , of a clan of Jewish freedom fighters called the Maccabees .
Despite being immensely outnumber , the Maccabees managed to recapture the Holy Temple , the Prime Minister site of ancient Judaism , from their oppressors . Hanukkah read to ' commitment ' in Hebrew .
Hanukkah celebrates the miracle that occurred when the Maccabees repossess the Temple . The sanctuary was a shambles , tear apart by the Hellenic forces . The fighter aircraft find only enough oil to light a lantern — by which to read the Torah — for one day . But the lantern blaze away for eight full days .
These five elements are part of traditional Hanukkah celebrations .
1. Light the Menorah
The centrepiece of the Hanukkah celebration is the hanukkiah , a candelabrum that holds nine candles . Eight wax light symbolize the phone number of days that the Temple lantern blazed ; the ninth , the shamash , is a helper candle used to light the others .
fellowship light one candle on the first day , another on the second ( and so on ) after sundown during the eight 24-hour interval of Hanukkah while reciting prayers and singing birdsong .
2. Sing Songs
Hanukkah comes with traditional holiday songs blab out around the radiate menorah . These lionize everything from the glory of God and the ancient Temple of the Jews ( Maoz Tzur ) to the simplicity of a dreidel , as in " Dreidel , dreidel , dreidel / I made it out of clay / And when it ’s dry and quick / Oh dreidel I shall meet . "
3. Yummy Fried Treats
There ’s nothing low - fat about Hanukkah — the traditional food of the holiday are deep - fry , caloric , and scrumptious . In honor of the miracle of the oil at the snapper of Hanukkah , Jewish people eat fried intellectual nourishment like sufganiyot ( jelly - fill doughnuts ) .
4. Spinning Tops
It ’s customary to wager with dreidels ( spinning tops ) during the vacation and even wager with chocolate coins on which side of the top will flow face up . The Hebrew characters carve into the four incline of today ’s dreidels are the first letters of " Ness Gadol Haya Po / Sham , " which about translates to " Great Miracle Happened Here / There " ( depending on whether you ’re in Israel or not ) .
5. Gold Coins
The tradition of hand out gelt ( the Yiddish word for " money " ) can be traced back to Jews in Medieval Europe , who connected the Hebrew word for pedagogy , hinnukh . Parents would give their child cut to stage to their teachers , and in clock time , they hand their children gelt to praise them for their study . The practice is also potential a nod to the fact that the only time Jews were historically free to mint their own coins in their own state was after the Maccabean rising when Jewish king governed the demesne around Jerusalem for over a C .
The coin distribute during Hanukkah — either real currency or chocolate - covered coin — are thus a symbolisation of Judaic independence .
Smith Mike . “ Looking Back : Gift - Giving at Chanukah . ”The Detroit Jewish News .
“ Bring Tzedek into Hanukkah Giving . ” Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism .
“ The Maccabees / Hasmoneans : History & Overview . ” Jewish Virtual Library .
“ Hanukkah . ” Britannica .
“ What Is Gelt ? Definition and History of the Tradition . ” Learn Religions .
