Hanukkah: the festival of lights

Hanukkah is known as the holiday of “praise and thanksgiving.”

While Hanukkah occurs around Christmas, it is not “Jewish Christmas.” The dates of Hanukkah are determined by the ancient Hebrew calendar, which is based on a lunar cycle. It tends to fall somewhere between late November and late December each year.

This year, the first day of Hanukkah began in the evening Sunday, Dec. 18, and lasts eight nights with the last day being Monday, Dec. 26.

Hanukkah celebrates a military victory of the Jews over foreign rulers, according to Britannica Kids. Families celebrate the Jewish festival with songs, games and food, commemorating the recovery of Jerusalem and the rededication of the Second Temple in the 160s B.C.

At the time, then-King Antiochus IV outlawed the Jewish religion and Jewish practices and decreed that Jews must worship Greek gods in the Temple. A Jewish priest Mattahias, his son Judah Maccabee and their army called The Maccabees fought this decree and forced the king out of Judea. They reclaimed the Temple and rebuilt the alter.

Part of rebuilding the alter was relighting the menorah, a lamp with seven candleholders. The Maccabee soldiers only had enough oil to light the menorah for one night, but the story goes that the oil lasted for a full eight days. This is the miracle of Hanukkah and why it is also called “The Festival of Lights”

Although most people use the word menorah, what is used for the holiday is the hanukkah, which looks similar to a menorah but it has nine candles. One candle is lit for each night of Hanukkah, with an extra one to light the others.

How to play dreidel

Families might play dreidel games and eat foods like sufganiyot, which is similar to a jelly donut, and latkes, which are fried potato pancakes. These foods are fried in oil to commemorate the miracle of the Maccabees’ long-burning oil.

The dreidel game is one of the most famous Hanukkah traditions. It was created as a way for Jews to study the Torah, the first five books of the Hebrew Bible.

A dreidel is a four-sided spinning top with Hebrew letters that explain the rules of the game. Any number of people can play dreidel. Each player begins the game with an equal number of game pieces — about 10 to 15. These game pieces can be anything found around the house like pennies, nuts, chocolate chips or raisins, according to My Jewish Learning.

At the beginning of each round, every participant puts one game piece in to the center. Every time the pot is empty or has only one game piece left, every player should put one in the center.

When it’s your turn, spin the dreidel once.

When you have no game pieces left, you are “out” or you can ask another player for a “loan.” Once one person has won everything, that round of the game is over.

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