Hanukkah celebrates the revolt of the Maccabean Jews, against the Seleucid Empire in the 2nd century BCE, that took back control of Jerusalem on Hanukkah and rededicated the Temple. It is also known as the Festival of Lights.
Hanukkah can be observed for eight nights or days. It begins on the 25th of Kislev according the Hebrew calendar. This date is usually between late November and late December. A menorah, or hanukkiah, is a candle-lighting ceremony that marks the end of the festival. It consists of nine branches and a candelabrum. A branch is placed either above or below others, and the candle from the one that is lit is used to light eight candles. This candle is known as the Shamash (Hebrew SHamaSH, “attendant”) The Shamash lights one more candle each night until all eight candles have been lit on the last night of the festival. Hanukkah celebrations include Hanukkah songs and games, as well as eating oil-based foods like latkes, sufganiyot and dairy foods. The worldwide Chabad Hasidic movement started public menorah lightings in public places throughout many countries since the 1970s.
Even though Hanukkah is a minor holiday strictly speaking religiously, it has gained significant cultural significance in North America and other countries due to its being observed around the same time that Christmas.
Table of Contents
- 1 Rituals
- 2 Music
- 3 Foods
- 4 Dreidel
- 5 Hanukkah gelt
- 6 Dates
- 7 Symbolic significance
- 8 Retationship With Christmas
- 9 Hanukkah at the White House
- 10 What is the best hanukkah to buy?
- 11 Best Hanukkah Reviews
- 12 Offers and Discounts
- 13 Cheap Hanukkah
- 14 Buy Hanukkah Online
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Rituals
Hanukkah is marked with a variety of rituals, some family-oriented and others communal. Special additions are made to the daily prayer service and a blessing is added after meals.
Hanukkah does not have a Sabbath-like holiday. There is no obligation to abstain from any activities prohibited on the Sabbath as stated in the Shulkhan Arkh. Adherents work as usual, but they may be required to leave earlier to light the lamps at nightfall. Schools are not required to close for religious reasons. However, schools in Israel will be closed for the entire week of Hanukkah starting on the second day. Many families exchange gifts every night, including books and games. Children are often presented with “Hanukkah Gelt”. To commemorate the importance oil is during Hanukkah celebrations, fried foods such as potato pancakes (latkes), jelly doughnuts (“sufganiyot”) and Sephardic bimuelos (sufganiyot) are served. Others have a tradition of eating dairy products in memory of Judith. They feed Holofernes cheese to make him thirsty and give him wine to drink. Judith took Holofernes’ head off when he was very drunk.
Kindling the Hanukkah lights
A candle or an oil-based light is lit every night during the eight-day holiday. The number of lights that are lit each night is an integral part of universally-practiced “beautification” of the mitzvah. A shamash is an additional light that is lit every night. It is usually located in a different location, either higher or lower than the others.
The Ashkenazim have the custom of lighting one set of lights per household, while the Sephardim do the same.
The Shamash’s purpose is to follow the Talmud’s prohibition against the use of Hanukkah lights other than for publicizing and meditation on the Hanukkah miracle. This is different from Sabbath candles, which are intended to be used for lighting and illumination. If you need additional illumination for Hanukkah, the Shamash candle is available. You can also avoid the prohibited lights. Many, particularly Ashkenazims, light the Shamash candle first, then light the other candles. The shamash is lit with two lights on the first night and three on the second. This leaves a total of 44 lights (36 if you exclude the -shamash). Sephardic custom is not to light the Shamash first, and then use it to light all the candles. Instead, the shamash candle should be lit last. A different candle or match should be used to light the rest of the candles. This Sephardic tradition is also followed by some Hasidic Jews.
You can use oil lamps or candles as the lights. Sometimes electric lights can be used. They are permitted in areas where open flame is prohibited, such as hospitals or rooms for the elderly or infirm. However, incandescent and rechargeable lamps are not allowed. An incandescent flashlight is acceptable. A blessing cannot be recited over an incandescent menorah. A special candelabrum is used in most Jewish homes. It’s called either a Chanukiah (the current Israeli term) or an menorah. This traditional Hebrew name simply means ‘lamp’. For Hanukkah, many families use an oil lamp that is traditionally filled with olive oil. It has eight wicks and an additional shamash to light it, just like the candle Chanukiah.
The United States made Hanukkah more prominent in the public sphere after Rabbi Menachem M. Snowrson, a Jewish Rabbi, encouraged lighting public menorahs and called for greater awareness of the festival. Diane Ashton said that the reinvention and increased visibility of Hanukkah was a result of some American Jewish community members adapting to American life. She re-invented the festival in the “language of individualism” and personal conscience, which is a combination of Protestantism as well as the Enlightenment.
Hanukkah lights are not lit for “illuminating the house inside”, but for “illumining the house without,” to remind passersby of the holiday’s miracle. The only cruse of oil that contained enough oil to last for one night actually lasted for eight. Lamps are placed near the street’s entrance or at a prominent window. Some Ashkenazi Jews have separate menorahs for each member of the family (customs vary). Most Sephardi Jews, however, light one for everyone. Lamps should be kept out of public view only when there is a risk of antisemitic persecution. This was the case in Persia, where the Zoroastrians ruled, and in Europe prior to World War II. Most Hasidic groups light lamps close to an inside doorway. However, this is not always in public view. This tradition states that the lamps are placed opposite to the mezuzah so that the person who passes through the door is surrounded with the holy mitzvot.
Although Jewish law generally exempts women from time-bound positive commandments in Jewish law, the Talmud states that women must perform the mitzvah lighting Hanukkah candles because they were also involved in the miracle.
Time for candle-lighting
Hanukkah lights should be lit for at least 30 minutes after the sun goes down. Many people light the Hanukkah lights at sunset, but most Hasidim do so later. Many Hasidic Rebbes light the lights later than usual to fulfill their obligation to publicize the miracle through the presence of their Hasidim as they light the lights.
Small, inexpensive candles made of wax for Hanukkah should only be lit at nightfall. They burn for about half an hour. Friday night is a problem. The candles cannot be lit on Shabbat, so they must be lit by sunset. They must be lit by the Shabbat candles. The Hanukkah menorah must be lit with larger candles than usual. Next, the Shabbat candles. There are two types of people who light Hanukkah candles before Havdalah, and one who lights Hanukkah lamps before Havdalah.
The lights should still be lit at nightfall or sunset, but the lights can still be lit later if there are people walking the streets. The lights can still be lit later than the sunset, but it is best to recite the blessings if at least one person is awake and present at the lighting.
Blessings over the candles
When lighting candles, two blessings are usually recited (brachot; singular brachah). The shehecheyanu blessing can be added to the candle lighting ceremony on the first night.
Depending on tradition, blessings can be said either before or after the candles have been lit. One light (candle, oil, or candle) is lit on Hanukkah’s first night. On the second night, a second light is lit to the left of that first light, but it is lit first. Then, a third light is lit to the left of that first light, but it is lit to the left of the first.
Blessings for lighting the candles
Transliteration: Barukh ata Adonai Eloheinu, melekh ha’olam, asher kid’shanu b’mitzvotav v’tzivanu l’hadlik ner Hanukkah.
Translation: “Blessed be You, LORD our God and King of the Universe, Who has sanctified Us with His commandments, and commanded [sic] to light the Hanukkah lights[s].
Blessings for the miracles of Hanukkah
Transliteration: Barukh ata Adonai Eloheinu, melekh ha’olam, she’asa nisim la’avoteinu ba’yamim ha’heim ba’z’man ha’ze.
Translation: “Blessed Are You, LORD our God and King of the Universe, Who performed miracles to save our ancestors during those days …”
Hanerot Halalu
After the lights have been turned on, the hymn Hanerot Haalu will be recited. There are many versions, but this is the one that is used in most Ashkenazic congregations.
Maoz Tzur
The Ashkenazi tradition has the hymn Ma’oz Tzur being sung every night after the candlelighting. Six stanzas make up the song. The first and final stanzas deal with the general themes of divine rescue, while the middle four address events of persecution in Jewish history. It praises God for his survival (the exodus form Egypt, Babylonian captivity and miracle of Purim) and longs for the day when Judea will triumph over Rome.
The thirteenth-century poet Mordechai, who only knew the acrostic in the first five stanzas of this song’s fifth stanzas, composed the song. Most likely, the familiar tune is a derivative of a German Protestant Church Hymn or a popular folk song.
Other customs
Many Jewish homes have a tradition of singing Hanukkah songs after lighting the candles and Ma’oz Tzur. Sephardi and Hasidic Jews may recite Psalms such as Psalm 30, Psalm 65, and Psalm 90. It is common in Israel and North America to give or exchange gifts with children at this time. Many families encourage their children’s giving of tzedakah (charity) instead of gifts for themselves.
Daily prayers can include special additions
To the “Hoda’ah”, (thanksgiving) benedictions in the Amidah (thrice daily prayers), is added Al HaNissim (“On/about Miracles”). This is the addition to the victory over the Syrians that the Hasmonean Mattathias (and his sons) achieved.
After meals, the same prayer is used for grace. The Hallel praise Psalms (psalms of praise) are sung at each morning service. However, the Tachanun penitential prayers cannot be sung.
Every day, the Torah is read in the shacharit morning service in synagogue. The Torah is read on the first day starting at Numbers 6:22 (according some customs, Numbers 7,1) and ending with Numbers 8,:4. Hanukkah is eight days long and includes at least one (or sometimes two) Jewish Sabbaths (Saturdays). The weekly Torah portion of the first Sabbath is almost always MIKTZ. It tells about Joseph’s dream, and his enslavement to Egypt. The Haftarah reading is Zechariah 2:14-Zechariah 4:17. The Haftarah reading for the second Sabbath of Hanukkah is 1 Kings 7.40 – 1 Kings 7.50
Daily lighting of the Hanukkah menorah takes place in the synagogue. It is lit at night with the blessings, and in the morning without them.
The menorah is lit not during Shabbat but before the start of Shabbat. It is still part of the Yemenite Jews’ liturgy.
Zot Hanukkah
Some call it Zot Hanukkah while others refer to it as Chanukat HaMizbeach. This is based on the verse that was read in the synagogue at Numbers 7:84. Zt Hanukkat Hamizbeach. “This was the dedication for the altar.” This day, according to Kabbalah and Hasidism is the last “seal” for the High Holiday season. It is a time to repent and show love for God. Many Hasidic Jews send each other Gmarchatimah tovah, which is a traditional greeting for Yom Kippur. This day is a particularly auspicious day for the fulfillment and recitation of prayers, according to Kabbalistic and Hasidic literature.
Women are expected to not work for at most the first half hour of candles’ burning. Some women also have the tradition of not working for the full time of the burning. It is forbidden to fast during Hanukkah or to eulogize.
Music
There are many songs that have been written about Hanukkah, possibly more than any other Jewish holiday. The most well-known songs are “Ma’oz Tzur”, “Rock of Ages”, “Latke’le Latke’le”, “Latke’le Latke’le,” (“Yiddish song about making Latkes”), and “Hanukkiah Li Yesh.” “Oh Chanukah” and “Dreidel,” are some of the most popular English-speaking songs.
It is a custom among the Nadvorna Hazidic Rebbes that they play violin after the menorah has been lit.
Penina Moise’s Hannukah Hymn, published in the 1842 Hymns written for the Use Hebrew Congregations, was pivotal in the Americanization of Hanukkah.
Foods
To commemorate the miracle of an oil flask that kept the Menorah of the Second Temple alight for eight consecutive days, it is customary to eat foods that have been fried or baked in olive oil. Latkes are a traditional food, especially for Ashkenazi families. Sephardi, Polish and Israeli families enjoy jam-filled doughnuts called Sufganiyot (Yiddish pAnTSHks ). They were made by Ashkenazi Jews who lived in Eastern and Central Europe before the Holocaust. Hungarian Jews and Italkim eat cheese pancakes called “cassola” (or “cheese lasatkes”) traditionally.
Latkes aren’t very popular in Israel as they can be made more often at home. They are also an Ashkenazi Jewish recipe. Fritas de Prasa is a similar fried dish with mashed potato, leek and other Sephardi Jews. The majority of Israel’s population is Sephardi and Mizrahi Jewish. These groups have their own Hanukkah dishes, such as fritas en prasa and sfinj. Sufganiyot has largely replaced latkes due to convenience, local economic factors and the influence of trade unions. Many fillings have been developed by Israeli bakeries for Sufganiyot, which include chocolate cream, vanilla, caramel, cappuccino, and other fillings. Mini sufganiyot, which are half the calories of regular 400- to 600-calorie versions, has become very popular in recent years.
Rabbinic literature also mentions a tradition of eating cheese during Hanukkah. As mentioned, this custom commemorates Judith’s heroism during Babylonian captivity. It also reminds us of women’s important roles in Hanukkah. The deuterocanonical Judith (Yehudit, or Yehudis) is not part the Tanakh. It records that Holofernes was an Assyrian general who had surrounded Bethulia in his campaign to conquer Judea. The situation was made worse by intense fighting. Judith, a pious widow, explained to the city leaders that she had a plan for saving the city. Judith disguised herself as a surrenderer and went to Assyrian camps. Holofernes was attracted to her beauty and she met her. She returned to her tent with him and plied him with wine and cheese. Judith took the severed head and beheaded Holofernes after he fell asleep drunkenly. This has been a popular theme of art history. The soldiers of Holofernes were overcome by fear when they found the corpse. However, the Jews were encouraged and launched a successful counterattack. The Assyrians were defeated and the town was saved.
Although roast goose was a Hanukkah tradition among Eastern European and American Jews for centuries, it has fallen in popularity in recent years.
Gulab jamun is a traditional Indian dish that consists of fried dough balls coated in sweet syrup. It is part of the Hanukkah festivities. Italian Jews eat fried chicken, cassola (a ricotta cheese latke almost similar to a cheesecake), and Fritelle de riso par Hanukkah (a fried sweet rice pancake). Romanian Jews enjoy pasta latkes as Hanukkah’s traditional dish. Syrian Jews eat Kibbet Yatkeen which is a dish made from pumpkin and bulgur wheat. They also have their own version of Keftes de Prasa, spiced with allspice, cinnamon, and some other dishes.
Dreidel
It is customary to spin the dreidel after lighting the candles. The sevivon, also known as the dreidel in Hebrew, is a spinning top with four sides that children use during Hanukkah. Each side has a Hebrew letter imprinted on it. This is an abbreviation of the Hebrew words “Nes Gadol Hama Sham” (Nes Gadol Haa Sham), which refers to the miracle that occurred in the Beit Hamikdash. Some dreidels in Israel have the fourth side inscribed with the letter Pe (Pe), which is an abbreviation for the Hebrew words ns gdvl Hyh SHm (Nes Gadol Haya Po) referring to Israel’s miracle of oil. However, this is a recent innovation. Haredi neighborhoods also sell traditional Shin dreidels, as they understand that “there” refers to the Temple, not the whole Land of Israel. Additionally, the Hasidic Masters assign significance to these traditional letters.
Hanukkah gelt
Chanukkah Gelt, Hebrew for “Chanukkah Money”, is often given to children during Hanukkah. Giving Hanukkah Gelt adds excitement to the holidays. Although the amount is often in small coins or grandparent’s money, relatives and grandparents may be able to give more. Tradition of giving Chanukah Gelt is a long-standing East European tradition where children present their teachers with small amounts of money as a token to show gratitude. For Hanukkah gelt, one minhag favors fifth night of Hanukkah. The fifth night of Hanukkah is not like the others and does not fall on Shabbat. This means that it does not conflict with the Halachic injunction to avoid handling money on Shabbat.
Dates
The Hebrew calendar determines the dates for Hanukkah. Hanukkah starts at the 25th Day of Kislev, and ends on the second or the third Day of Tevet. (Kislev may have 29 or 30 days). Sunset marks the beginning of the Jewish day. Hanukkah dates for recent and upcoming:
2013 was the third year that the American holiday of thanksgiving fell during Hanukkah. It happened once before, in 1899. Due to slight differences between the Gregorian calendar and the Jewish calendars, it won’t happen again in the foreseeable. This convergence led to the creation of the neologism Thanksgivukkah.
Symbolic significance
Major Jewish holidays are those that prohibit all work and feature traditional holiday foods, kiddush, candle-lighting, and other holiday traditions. These holidays are only biblical, and Chanukah was established two centuries after the completion of the Hebrew Bible. Although Chanukah is a rabbinic holiday, it is still celebrated in a large and public manner. The Chanukah miracle is made more visible by the requirement that the menorah (or Chanukiah) be placed at the door or window.
Jewish historians offer a different explanation for the rabbinic hesitation to praise the militarism. The rabbis may have not wanted to give the family too much praise because they wrote it after Hasmonean leaders led Judea into Rome’s grasp. They wanted to encourage a sense of dependence upon God and encourage Jews to seek protection from the divine. They probably feared inciting Jews into another revolt that could lead to disaster, just as the Bar Kochba rebellion did.
These themes were reexamined with the rise of Zionism and the creation of the state of Israel. Modern Israel saw Hanukkah’s military and national aspects retaken as a dominant theme.
Hanukkah, despite being a minor Jewish holiday as evidenced by the absence of any religious restrictions on work beyond lighting the candles, is now a symbol of Jewish identity in North America. Both North American and Israeli Hanukkah emphasize resistance and focus on a combination of religious freedom and national liberation as the holiday’s defining meaning.
Many Jews in Israel and North America have raised environmental concerns about Hanukkah’s miracle of the oil. They emphasize energy independence and conservation. The Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life’s Renewable Energy Campaign is an example.
Retationship With Christmas
Hanukkah was a popular holiday in North America, especially among Jewish families. It also gained prominence with large numbers of secular Jews who sought a Jewish alternative for Christmas celebrations that overlap with Hanukkah. Diane Ashton claims that Hanukkah was first promoted by American Jewish immigrants as a kid-centered alternative for Christmas in the 1800s. This is in part due to the rise of Christmas which, like Hanukkah, gained more importance in the 1800s. Jewish leaders, especially Reform, made efforts to rebrand Hanukkah. They started hosting Hanukkah celebrations for children at their synagogues. These included singing songs and candy. It became a commercial holiday in the 1900s. Hanukkah decorations and gifts began to appear in shops and Jewish Women magazines printed articles about holiday decorations, gift giving, and children’s celebrations. Ashton states that Jewish families did this in order to preserve a Jewish identity apart from mainline Christian culture. However, the mirroring Hanukkah to Christmas made Jewish families and children feel American. Though it was traditional among Ashkenazi Jews to give “gelt” or money to children during Hanukkah, in many families this has been supplemented with other gifts so that Jewish children can enjoy gifts just as their Christmas-celebrating peers do. Children play an important role in Hanukkah. Jewish families with children are more likely than those without to celebrate it. Sociologists speculate that this may be because Jewish parents don’t want their children to be separated from Christmas-celebrating peers. The Hanukkah bush is also present at recent celebrations, as it is considered a Jewish counterpart of the Christmas tree. Most rabbis discourage Hanukkah bushes today, but Reform, Reconstructionist, and more liberal Conservative Rabbis do not object to them, even Christmas trees.
Hanukkah at the White House
The United States has a long history of celebrating Hanukkah in many ways. In 1951, the White House was first to link Hanukkah with Israel. Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion gave President Harry Truman a Hanukkah Menorah. Jimmy Carter participated in 1979’s first Hanukkah candle-lighting ceremony on the White House lawn. President George H.W. Bush participated in the first public Hanukkah candle-lighting ceremony on the White House lawn in 1989. Bush displayed a menorah at the White House in 1989. A small ceremony was held at the Oval Office by President Bill Clinton in 1993.
The United States Postal Service released several Hanukkah-themed stamps. The United States Postal Service (USPS), in 1996, issued a 32-cent Hanukkah stamp. This was a joint issue with Israel. After eight years of reissuing menorah designs, the USPS issued a Hanukkah stamp with a dreidel design in 2004. The dreidel design was in use through 2008. A Hanukkah stamp with a photo of a menorah lit with nine candles was issued in 2009. In 2008, President George W. Bush hosted an official Hanukkah celebration at the White House. He used the menorah to link the occasion with the 1951 gift. A grandson from Ben-Gurion lit the candles, and a grandson from Truman lit them.
Two Hanukkah celebrations took place at the White House in December 2014. The White House invited two students from Max Rayne School in Israel to join President Barack Obama and First lady Michelle Obama at the celebration. Extremists set fire to the Israeli students’ school. Obama stated that these students “leave us a valuable lesson for this period in our history.” The flames of hatred must be outlasted by the light of hope. This is what the Hanukkah story teaches. This is what young people can teach us: that one act can bring about a miracle, love can overcome hate and that conflict can be defeated. In leading the prayers at the ceremony, Rabbi Angela Warnick Buchdahl commented on how special it was and asked the President if he could imagine a female Asian-American Jewish rabbi one day leading Jewish prayers before the African-American president.
Hanukkah is a celebration of eight days which celebrates the wonder of a tiny jug stuffed with oil. The oil was rededicated in God’s honor after being used only once. Hanukkah is also known as the Festival of Lights. In this event, eight nights of candles are lit and then they are turned off. The night of the first, the first candle is lit. After that, a second candle is lit each night until the eighth. In most cases there are two candles burning simultaneously. Hanukkah is a holiday with many customs. It is a time to light candles and eating potato pancakes.
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