Hanukkah – A celebration of lights!
The fight against oppression
The Jewish people have struggled throughout history to preserve their religion as a nation. More than 2000 years ago, king Antiochus, the leader of the Greek Empire, occupied the land of Israel. The occupation of the land and its people wasn’t enough for the Greeks, they wanted to take away the spiritual freedom of the Jewish people. Antiochus demanded that the Jews abandon their faith and surrender to the Greek Gods.
The oppressive verdict caused rivalry among the Jews under the leadership of the Maccabees.
The Hanukkah story: David and Goliath all over again
The Jewish people, though inferior in number, were determined to fight the well trained and armed soldiers of the Greek empire.
Like the Phil Collins’ song – Against All Odds
The story of Chanukah (also spelled Hanukah) tells that the Jews formed a small yet fierce army under the leadership of Judah Maccabee and his four brothers. The Maccabbees defeated the great Greek army but the victory didn’t come easy. It took three years of bloody fights to oust the Greeks out of the holy land.
Judah and his followers rededicated the Second Temple. They removed all of the Greek statues that filled the temple and made a mockery of the temple’s true purpose.
What does the Hanukkah menorah has to do with it?..
The Maccabbees wanted to light the holy Menorah in the temple, also known as the Eternal Light for its believed ability to shine forever. But to the Maccabbee’s misfortune, there was only a small jug of oil left for the lamp in the temple, which was only enough for one day. To everyone’s surprise, the small jug of oil kept the menorah lit for eight whole days. That was the Hanukkah miracle.
We mark this miracle of Hanukkah by kindling the lights of the special 9-candle menorah (Hanukiyah) for eight successive days.
The lighting of the Hanukiya also celebrates the great victory of the brave Jewish ancestors who fought over their right for religious freedom.
The Hanukkah menorah or Hanukia has 9 candle holders, the middle one, Shamah, is lit first and is used to light the other eight candles that are usually very colorful, one for each day. On the eighth day, all 9 candles are kindled, filling the Jewish home with sparkling flames and cheery colors.
This is why Hanukkah is also known as the festival of lights!
Other customs:
Dreidels
The children play with the dreidels that have Hebrew letters, one on each side –(Nun, Gimel, Hey and Shin). Each letter stands for a word that is part of the Hanukah blessing – Great Miracle Happened There. In Israel, the dreidel slightly differs by one letter, so the blessing there is – Great Miracle Happened Here.
As you can well see – anyone can join the party!
The best part – the food:
Unlike in the holy temple, not a drop of oil is spared in cooking on Hanukkah!
Sufganiyot
During the eight days of Chanukah it is customary in Israel to eat jelly donuts called Sufganiyot (plural of Sufganiah), which totally beats the Christmas eggnog! Sufganiya in Hebrew means a sponge. See yourself warned – one single donut contains about 500 calories!
According to Wikipedia, the largest bakery in Israel – Angel Bakeries – fries more than 250,000 sufganiyot every day during the eight days of Chanukah.
Another yummy treat is the potato latkes: to get these crispy pancakes you fry grated potatoes and onions in deep oil.
So if you don’t gain weight during this holiday, count that as your Chanukah miracle!
