What does the holiday of Chanukah celebrate?

Chanukah celebrates two miracles:

a) The 2nd century BCE victory of a small, greatly outnumbered and out-armed army of Jews, known as the "Maccabees," over the mighty Greek army that occupied the Holy Land. The rebellion was in response to the Greek attempt to force a Hellenistic G-dless lifestyle on the Jewish inhabitants of Israel.

b) The kindling of a seven-branched Menorah (candelabra) was an important component of the daily service in the Holy Temple. When the Maccabees liberated the Temple from the hands of the Greek invaders, they found only a small cruse of pure and undefiled olive oil fit for fueling the Menorah. The problem was, it was sufficient to light the Menorah only for one day, and it would take eight days to produce new pure oil. Miraculously, the oil burned for eight days and nights.

I worked in a Jewish reitrement community for years, so I've come to enjoy some of the Hanukkah traditions. I even know a song or 2...




 

I Have a Little Dreidel 

I have a little dreidel
I made it out of clay
And when it's dry and ready
Then, dreidel I shall play. 

Oh, dreidel, dreidel, dreidel
I made it out of clay
Oh, dreidel, dreidel, dreidel
Now dreidel we shall play. 

It has a lovely body
With legs so short and thin
And when it gets all tired 
It drops and then I win. 

My dreidel is so playful
It loves to dance and spin
A happy game of dreidel
Come play now, let's begin. 
I made it out of clay
And when it's dry and ready
Then, dreidel I shall play. 

Oh, dreidel, dreidel, dreidel
I made it out of clay
Oh, dreidel, dreidel, dreidel
Now dreidel we shall play. 

It has a lovely body
With legs so short and thin
And when it gets all tired 
It drops and then I win!

-- Edited by garougal at 12:08, 2007-12-04

Yummy Potato Latkes (Kosher)!!!

INGREDIENTS:

• 700 g (1 ½ lb) firm cooking potatoes
• 1 tsp salt
• ½ tsp fresh-ground black pepper
• 1/3 tsp baking powder
• 2 Tbsp matzo meal
• 2 large eggs
• 30 g (1 oz or ¼ cup) onion, grated
• Vegetable oil, butter or mixture

INSTRUCTIONS:

• Finely grate potatoes. Line a large bowl with a kitchen towel and dump potatoes in center. Enfold potatoes in towel, and squeeze and twist to remove as much liquid into the bowl as possible. Set potatoes aside and let starch settle from potato liquid for 10 minutes.
  
• In the meantime combine salt, pepper, baking powder and matzo meal in a second bowl, add eggs and beat lightly.
  
• Carefully drain potato liquid but retain potato starch that settled to the bottom. Add this starch to the eggs with the grated onion and potatoes and mix well.
  
• Heat a large, heavy fry pan over medium heat for half a minute and add a small amount of fat (oil, butter or mixture) to coat bottom. With a large spoon, drop several lemon-size latke dough into the pan and flatten with spatula. Brown lightly on one side, then flip over to brown the second side. Continue with rest of latke dough. Keep them ready to serve on a plate in a warm oven. Latkes will not keep very long and lose a lot on reheating. Serve them very fresh.

Serves 4.

You may serve potato latkes keeping the sour cream and applesauce tradition, or use any of your favorite toppings, such as marmalade, jam, yogurt, honey or sweet syrup. For a festive table, provide at least three choices of toppings.

Me too, with aplesauce and sour cream!

What does the word Chanukah mean?

Chanukah means dedication or induction. Following their victory over the Greeks, the Maccabees re-dedicated the Holy Temple and its altar which were desecrated and defiled by the pagan invaders.

The word Chanukah can also be divided into two: "Chanu" they rested, and "Kah" which has the numerical value of 25. On the twenty-fifth day of the Hebrew month of Kislev the Maccabees rested from their battle, and triumphantly marched into the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, ready to rededicate it.

Is Chanukah a major Jewish holiday?

That depends on your definition of "major."

Many define major Jewish holidays as those that feature traditional holiday meals, kiddush, holiday candle lighting, etc., and when work is forbidden. Only biblical holidays fit this criteria, and Chanukah was instituted some two centuries after the Bible was completed and canonized.

Nevertheless, though Chanukah is of rabbinic origin, it is traditionally celebrated in a "major" and very public fashion. The requirement to position the Chanukah Menorah at the door or window symbolizes our desire to give the Chanukah miracle a "high profile."

Is the public celebration of Chanukah a reaction to the holiday of a different faithto ensure that Jews don't feel second class?

The Passover Seder is carried out in the privacy of one's home. On Rosh Hashanah we go to the synagogue to hear the sound of the shofar. But there's only one holiday whose primary mitzvah is PR oriented, whose message is meant to be advertized and broadcasted, and that is Chanukah.

Originally, the sages who established Chanukah instituted that the menorah be lit at the entranceway to one's home. The concept of pirsumei nissa, "the publicizing of the miracle" is, and always was, part and parcel of Chanukah.

Many of the laws associated with the menorah reflect this central theme of Chanukah. For example, the Talmud (Shabbat 23b) explains that one who only has sufficient funds for either Chanukah candles or wine for kiddush should purchase the candles, and make do with a wine-less kiddush. Why? "The Chanukah lights are more important, because of pirsumei nissa."

In the Diaspora, the practice of publicizing the miracle via lighting the menorah in full view of public thoroughfares was discontinued due to the persecutions that such displays could have potentially engendered. In Jerusalem, though, to this very day menorahs are lit in plastic or glass casings outside the homes.

Now that by the grace of G d the vast majority of Jews live in lands that pride themselves on their commitment to religious freedom and tolerance, it is certainly appropriate to restore the holiday message that had been silenced for so long.

And there certainly has never been a time when the message of the Chanukah lights has been more needed by societies that so thirst for meaning and spirituality.

See also Public Menorahs.

What are some of the traditional Chanukah foods?

Because of the central role that oil played in the Chanukah miracle, it is customary to serve foods fried in oil. The traditional foods vary according to country of origin:

Jews of Eastern European (or Ashkenazi) origin eat latkes, or fried potato pancakes.

Sephardic Jews eat different varieties of deep-fried donuts. Greek Jews call them "loukomades"; Persian Jews refer to them as "zelebi," while in Israel jelly doughnuts are wildly popular and known as "sufganiot."

It is also customary to eat dairy foods on Chanukah, in commemoration of the bravery of Yehudit, who used cheese to defeat the Greek general Holofernes. Click here to read the story of this brave woman.

And one more custom....

It is customary amongst Sephardic residents of Jerusalem to arrange communal meals during the eight days of Chanukah. Friends who quarreled during the year traditionally reconcile at these meals.

-- Edited by MzHartz at 07:57, 2007-12-11

What does Dreidel mean?

Dreidel is a Yiddish word which comes from the word "drei," which means to turn, or spin. The dreidel is a specially designed spinning top used for Chanukah games.

What is a Dreidel?

Dreidel is Yiddish for a spinning top. A dreidel is a pointed, four-sided top which can be made to spin on its pointed base. Dreidels are normally made of plastic or wood, though there are silver or glass "designer dreidels" available on the market, usually intended for display purposes. It is customary to play dreidel games on the holiday of Chanukah.

There is a Hebrew letter embossed or printed on each of the dreidel's four sides. These four letters form the acronym of the phrase: "Nes gadol hayah sham," "A great miracle happened there"; a reference to the Chanukah miracle that transpired in the Land of Israel.

The dreidel, known in Hebrew as a sevivon, dates back to the time of the Greek-Syrian rule over the Holy Landwhich set off the Maccabean revolt that culminated in the Chanukah miracle. Learning Torah was outlawed by the enemy, a "crime" punishable by death. The Jewish children resorted to hiding in caves in order to study. If a Greek patrol would approach, the children would pull out their tops and pretend to be playing a game.

By playing dreidel during Chanukah we are reminded of the courage of those brave children.

See our Dreidel Wizard for traditional dreidel game rules.

What is the ninth candle for?

The ninth candle is called the "shamash" or "attendant" candle. It is used to light the other ones.

Click here for more about the shamash.

For more on the deeper significance of the shamash, see The Lamplighter.

Is it okay to use an electric Menorah?

Electric menorahs are great for display purposes, and are a wonderful medium for publicizing the Chanukah miracle. But the Chanukah lights used to fulfill the mitzvah should be real flames fueled by wax or oil like the flames in the Holy Temple.

Consult with your rabbi if you find yourself under extenuating circumstances that do not allow for lighting a candle or oil menorah.