Hanukah: The Jewish Festival of Rededication and Light

Hanukah, the Jewish Festival of Rededication is a celebration of religious freedom. With G-d’s help, Judah Macabee and a small Jewish army miraculously defeated a much larger Syrian-Greek army more than 2,000 years ago and liberated the land of Israel.  According to legend, Hanukah is celebrated for 8 days because after cleaning and rededicating Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem, Judah and his followers found a small amount of pure, kosher olive oil that they thought would light the Menorah (candelabra) for 1 day but a miracle occurred and it stayed lit for 8 days.

 

On this Festival of Lights, the Jewish People light 9 branched Hanukah Menorahs or Hanukkiahs within their homes: 1 candle is lit on the first night of Hanukah, 2 candles on the second night and so forth until the Holiday concludes with the lighting of all 8 candles on the last night of the festival. The middle candle is known as the Shames (helper candle) and lights the other eight candles.

 

Fried foods such as Latkes (potato pancakes) and Sufganiot (Bismarks–jelly donuts) are eaten to recall the miracle of the oil. Jewish children spin a 4 sided top called a “Dreidel” in order to win coins: The 4 Hebrew letters on the top represent the phrase, “a great miracle happened there”, namely, in Israel. Parents give their children Hanukah Gelt, money or chocolate coins along with presents and the Jewish People attend Hanukah parties during the Holiday. This year, Hanukah begins on the evening of Wednesday December 25th and concludes on Thursday January 2nd. The 8th night of Hanukah is Wednesday January 1st. Our communities throughout Sholom celebrate in many ways throughout the holiday season. Take a look at one of our programming calendars and join us for some!

 

Hanukah is a minor Jewish Holiday and thus, there are absolutely no work restrictions on this Jewish Festival.

 

Sholom wishes everyone a peaceful and joyous holiday season, however they celebrate! 

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