The Hannukah Festival: December 2-9

In 2010, Hanukkah will begin on the evening of 1st December.Although many people think Hanukkah is the ‘Jewish Christmas’, in fact it is a holiday that commemorates an altogether different event namely the victory of the Maccabees over the Syrian-Greek rulers of Jerusalem in 164BC.At this time, the temple was rededicated, and God miraculously made a single day’s worth of oil burn for eight whole days.

Because of this, the theme of light is important and the festival is often referred to as the ‘festival of lights’ or ‘feast of lights’. A 9-candeled candelabra is lit to commemorate the miracle, one new candle being lit on each subsequent night of the festival.

One popular custom is to eat fried food at this festival. This is another reference to the oil used in the temple. One such delicacy is ‘Latke’ – a pancake made from potatoes which will be served with an apple sauce.

More recently, Jews have started the practise of gift giving – possibly because of the festival’s proximity to Christmas.However, it is not normal for gifts to be exchanged with anyone but other family members.

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Tagged as:  calendars · dates · Festivals · Hannukah · Holidays · Judaism · Religion