Playing with the dreidel is a traditional Hanukkah game played in Jewish homes all over the world, and rules may vary. Here’s how to play the basic dreidel game:

1. Any number of people can take part.

2. Each player begins the game with an equal number of game pieces (about 10-15) such as pennies, nuts, chocolate chips, raisins, matchsticks, etc.

3. At the beginning of each round, every participant puts one game piece into the center “pot.” In addition, every time the pot is empty or has only one game piece left, every player should put one in the pot.

4. Every time it’s your turn, spin the dreidel once. Depending on the side it lands on, you give or get game pieces from the pot. For those who don’t read Hebrew, some dreidels also feature a transliteration of each letter. If yours doesn’t, use the photo below as a cheat sheet:

a) Nun means “nisht” or “nothing.” The player does nothing.

b) Gimel  means “gantz” or “everything.” The player gets everything in the pot.

c) Hey means “halb” or “half.” The player gets half of the pot. (If there is an odd number of pieces in the pot, the player takes half of the total plus one).

d) Shin (outside of Israel) means “shtel” or “put in.” Peh (in Israel) also means “put in.” The player adds a game piece to the pot.

5. If you find that you have no game pieces left, you are either “out” or may ask a fellow player for a “loan.”

6. When one person has won everything, that round of the game is over!

Reprinted with permission from A Different Light: The Hanukkah Book of Celebration, published by the Shalom Hartman Institute and Devora Publishing.

Explore Hanukkah’s history, global traditions, food and more with My Jewish Learning’s “All About Hanukkah” email series. Sign up to take a journey through Hanukkah and go deeper into the Festival of Lights.

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The fried foods custom recalls the miracle of Hanukkah, which centered around oil (one cruse lasting for eight days). Latkes (fried potato pancakes) are traditional, topped with applesauce or sour cream, but there are many creative variations to the pancakes and the toppings. Other fried foods for Hanukkah include sufganiyot (jelly doughnuts) and other kinds of fritters.

The cheesy foods tradition is based on a story from the apocryphal Book of Judith which takes place during the time of the Maccabean revolt that we commemorate on Hanukkah. In it, an Assyrian warrior named Holofernes besieges the town of Bethulia, and though Bethulia’s elders are ready to surrender, Judith, a widow, enters the Assyrian camp and gives Holofernes salty cheese to make him thirsty and wine to make him drunk. After he becomes intoxicated, she seizes his sword and beheads him, bringing the head back to her village in a basket. The next morning when the Assyrian troops found the headless body of their leader, they fled in terror. While a severed head is not the most appetizing image, we honor Judith’s victorious and brave use of cheese by incorporating the dairy product into our Hanukkah menus.

Find even more Hanukkah recipes here.

Latkes

How to Make Perfect Latkes (Video)
The One Trick You Need to Make Better Latkes
Easy Latkes
Parsnip Latkes
Sweet Potato Latkes
Gingered Sweet Potato Latkes
Curried Sweet Potato Latkes
Sweet Potato Latkes with Toasted Marshmallows
Grilled Cheese Latkes
Beet and Sweet Potato Latkes
Japanese-Style Latkes
Pulled Brisket-Topped Latkes
Everything Bagel Latkes
Green Latkes
French Onion Latkes
Loaded Baked Potato Latkes
Colorful Veggie Latkes
Cajun Potato Latkes
Cheese Latkes
Coconut Latkes
Rectangular Potato Latkes
Latke Hotdish

Learn more about why we eat latkes on Hanukkah from The Nosher.

Latke Toppings

Basil Pesto
Pear and Ginger Compote
Applesauce
Cranberry Applesauce

Doughnuts and Other Fried Treats

Jelly Doughnuts
Sfenj (Moroccan Hanukkah doughnuts)
Peanut Butter Jelly Doughnuts
Bimuelos, honey drizzled fritter
Pumpkin Bimuelos
Chocolate Babka Doughnuts
Gulab Juman (Indian milky doughnuts)
Air Fryer Jelly Doughnuts
Cranberry Challah Doughnuts
Gluten-Free Churros for Hanukkah
Russian Apple Piroshki
Zangula (Sweet Iraqi Funnel Cake)

Read about the history of Hanukkah doughnuts from The Nosher.

Savory Fried Foods

Torzelli, deep-fried curly endive
Tostones, fried plantains
Mozzarella in Carrozza, a fried cheese sandwich
Beer-Battered Pumpkin Rings
Onion and Chickpea Fritters

Click here for eight more Jewish fried foods from around the world to enjoy during Hanukkah.

Non-Fried Hanukkah Desserts

Ultimate Hanukkah Cookies
Jelly-Filled “Sufganiyot” Cupcakes
Lemon Olive Oil Cupcakes
Bourban Pecan and Chocolate Gelt Pie
Spiced Hot Chocolate, made with leftover Hanukkah gelt
Blue Crinkle Hanukkah Cookies

Click here for more Hanukkah recipes from The Nosher.

Explore Hanukkah’s history, global traditions, food and more with My Jewish Learning’s “All About Hanukkah” email series. Sign up to take a journey through Hanukkah and go deeper into the Festival of Lights.

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But Jews around the world have also developed Hanukkah customs that are unique to their local community. For example, while jelly-filled donuts (sufganiyot) are a mainstay among Ashkenazi Jews, Hanukkah in southern India is celebrated by making gulab jamnun, a milk-based ball of dough that is deep fried and then drenched in sugar syrup. The sweet treat is also consumed by non-Jewish Indians during other celebrations like Diwali.

Indian Jews enjoying gulab jamnun is far from the only example of a distinct tradition that a community has developed in Diaspora. Here are eight more customs that go beyond playing dreidel or giving Hanukkah gelt. 

1. Hanging the Menorah On the Wall 

Most Ashkenazi Jews place a menorah in the window in order to publicize the miracle of Hanukkah. In Morocco, Algeria and other North African communities, it is customary to hang the menorah on a hook in the doorway, beside the mezuzah. Putting the menorah near the mezuzah was thought to enhance the protection already offered by the mezuzah. If you look at menorahs made in North Africa, you will notice that many have a ring at the top, as well as a flat metal backing, so that the menorah could be safely hung. 

Some Jews affiliated with Chabad also hang their menorahs. This group traces the tradition back to the Talmud (Shabbat 22a) which describes the menorah as being positioned on the doorpost like a mezuzah:

Rav Shmuel from Difti said: … the halakhah is to place [the menorah] on the left so that the Hanukkah lamp will be on the left and the mezuzah on the right. Then, one who enters the house will be surrounded by mitzvot. 

2. Constructing a Menorah from Potatoes   

Jews in Romania, as well as Austria and other central European communities, would scrape out potatoes, filling each potato space with oil and a wick to serve as the menorah. Rather than putting all eight out at once, each day they would add another potato. While the origin of this custom is unclear, it likely came about due to economic struggles. 

3. Lighting an Extra Shamash 

The Jewish community of Aleppo, which comprised mostly Sephardic Jews who had escaped the Inquisition, lit an extra shamash (helper candle) on each night of Hanukkah. Several explanations exist — some say that the second shamash was meant to honor God and acknowledge the divine intervention that brought them to safety. Others say the custom was a nod toward the non-Jews of Aleppo, who welcomed them as refugees. 

4. Glass Boxes On Display 

Before mass immigration and the establishment of the State of Israel in the 20th century, Jews lived in Jerusalem for centuries and followed the ruling that the menorah’s lights needed to be placed outside the home for all to see. This decree originates in the Talmud (Shabbat 21b):

The sages taught in a beraita: It is a mitzvah to place the Hanukkah lamp at the entrance to one’s house on the outside, so that all can see it.

However, Jerusalem winters are often wet and windy, so the community began crafting aquarium-like glass boxes to protect their flames. Inside, Jerusalem Jews put small cups of olive oil and lit a wick to correspond with each night. Some of Jerusalem’s oldest homes even have a shelf carved out of the home’s exterior walls to place the glass boxes in. 

Today, many Israeli Jews have adopted this practice, although some will simply place a hanukkiah with candles inside the box, rather than using oil. 

5. Chag HaBanot: A Celebration of Women 

Jewish communities in Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Iraq, Iran, Turkey, Morocco, Greece and Yemen celebrate another holiday during Hanukkah, known in Judeo-Arabic as Eid Al Bnat or Chag HaBanot in Hebrew, both of which translate to the Festival of the Daughters. 

Observed on Rosh Chodesh Tevet (which falls on the sixth night of Hanukkah), the girls and women of the community refrain from work and gather to recall Jewish heroines, particularly Judith, the Jewish woman who lived during the time of the Maccabees and helped prevent the impending siege of Jerusalem by decapitating the invading Assyrian general. 

Chag HaBanot festivities vary from community to community, but often include eating sweets and fried treats, dancing, visiting the synagogue to kiss the Torah scrolls and singing well into the night. Girls approaching bat mitzvah age, as well as women who were engaged, were also publicly celebrated during Chag HaBanot. 

Read more about Chag HaBanot here.

6. Neighborhood Wine Tastings 

The region of Avignon, located in southern France, is renowned for its wineries. During the Saturday night that falls during Hanukkah, after Shabbat ended, the Jews of Avignon open a new bottle of local wine in their homes and make a toast. Then, each family travels around their neighborhood to taste the wines chosen by their neighbors and to toast to the miracle of Hanukkah.

7. No Melachot Near the Menorah

It is a longstanding practice among North African and Middle Eastern Jewish communities, as well as Haredi Ashkenazi Jews, that as long as the menorah is lit, women refrain from doing melachot, the types of work that are forbidden on Shabbat and holidays. While Hanukkah is not a holiday that requires Jews to refrain from labor, this custom can be traced back to laws codified by both Ashkenazi and Sephardic leaders who ruled, pre-electricity, that the light of the menorah was not to be used for anything besides enjoying the holiday.

8. The Ninth Night of Hanukkah

In some parts of Morocco, Jewish children spend the last day of Hanukkah going from house to house to collect the leftover cotton wicks that Moroccan Jews used in place of candles. At sundown, the wicks are ignited to create a large bonfire, and each community gathers to sing, dance and even leap over the fire, which was believed to bring good luck to the jumper, especially to women seeking a partner or struggling to conceive.

These are only a sampling of the many traditions that various communities around the world have developed over time. Click here to learn more about the diversity of the Jewish people and some of its less widespread customs.

Explore Hanukkah’s history, global traditions, food and more with My Jewish Learning’s “All About Hanukkah” email series. Sign up to take a journey through Hanukkah and go deeper into the Festival of Lights.

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The Dreidel

The most concrete difference between Israeli and Diaspora holiday celebrations is found on the dreidel, the spinning top at the center of this classic holiday game. Outside of Israel, the four-sided top is marked with four Hebrew letters: nun, gimmel, hey, shin, which stand for the Hebrew phrase nes gadol haya sham (“a great miracle happened there”). In Israel, where the Hanukkah miracle took place, the final letter on the dreidel is pey instead of shin, for nes gadol haya po (“a great miracle happened here.”)

Sufganiyot

On Hanukkah, it’s customary to eat fried foods in commemoration of the holiday miracle, in which a jar of oil sufficient to burn for one day wound up burning for eight in the ancient Temple. In most of the world, latkes are the fried food of choice. But Israelis go for sufganiyot, or donuts. The classic version is filled with jelly and topped with dusted sugar. But Israeli bakers have also trotted out an ever-increasing variety of donuts adorned with decadent toppings. Click here to sample Israel’s amazing variety of donut flavors.

Showtime

Hanukkah is showtime in Israel. Across the country, elaborate plays and musicals are staged, perhaps to help keep kids entertained while they’re off from school (yes, Hanukkah is vacation time in Israel). Among the best-known of these is the annual Festigal show, a musical production that pits major Israeli stars against one another in musical numbers.

Outdoor Menorahs

In much of the world, individuals place their menorah in the window of their homes. In Israel, it is also common to place one’s menorah outdoors, in a special box meant to protect the candles from the wind. This means that you don’t have to peer in peoples windows to see their Hanukkah lights — they are seen right on the street.

Click here to learn more about Israeli Hanukkah traditions.

Explore Hanukkah’s history, global traditions, food and more with My Jewish Learning’s “All About Hanukkah” email series. Sign up to take a journey through Hanukkah and go deeper into the Festival of Lights.

The post How Hanukkah Is Celebrated in Israel appeared first on My Jewish Learning.

This Hanukkah, choose from an abundance of classes and special community events, and bring more light to your holiday! Check out the wide array of unique events from My Jewish Learning.

Upcoming My Jewish Learning Events

Hanukkah Papercutting Workshop with USPS Hanukkah Stamp Creator

Monday, Dec. 4 at 7:30 pm ET

Join us for an exciting online event where you can learn the art of papercutting from Jeanette Kuvin Oren, the creator of the USPS Hanukkah stamp! Get ready to unleash your creativity and discover the beauty of this traditional craft.

Hanukkah Lights From Around The World

Tuesday, Dec. 5 at 6 pm ET

Join My Jewish Learning on a global journey to learn about Hanukkah lamps from around the world. Discover some of the unique forms a Hanukkah lamp can take and how the diverse cultures of Jewish communities from around the world influence their Hanukkah practices and lamps.

You will also gain insights and inspiration on how to improvise your own Hanukkah lamp with unexpected materials. We will explore the why behind the diversity of Jewish Hanukkah lamps and how to recreate them at home, as well as the multi-century trends that led to the iterations of the Hanukkah lamp that are most widely known today. You’ll learn how Jews in Kurdistan and Morocco created ephemeral hanukkah lamps from sardine tins and bottle caps, and what aesthetic choices can tell us about the lives, values, and geography of global Jewish communities.

My Jewish Learning Events On Demand

The Hanukkah Story You Never Heard

Many people know that Hanukkah is a minor holiday. The books of the Maccabees, which detail the Jewish victories over the Syrian Greeks that allowed Jews to preserve their autonomy and culture, were never included in the Hebrew Bible. Ironically, we only have them in Greek. But did you know that the rabbis weren’t even sure that Hanukkah was about the Maccabees at all? And if Hanukkah isn’t about the Maccabees, what is it about? Watch this video to find out.

Hanukkah Fashion Then and Now

Kveller and Rabbi Yael Buechler, a Hanukkah merchandise expert and fashion designer take a look into the history of Hanukkah apparel. Explore how Hanukkah fashions have transformed over the years, from niche designers to mainstream retailers. 

How to Light Hanukkah Candles: An Ancient Debate

Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz explains how to light the Hanukkah candles and the history of how this ritual came to be. Dive into the Talmudic debate between Rabbi Hillel and Rabbi Shammai and discover a new appreciation for lighting the Hanukkah candles. 

Hanukkah Piyutim Workshop

Learn traditional Moroccan Piyutim (liturgical poems) for Hanukkah. In this workshop, Laura Elkeslassy teaches ‘Am Neemanai, a Moroccan piyut written by Rabbi David Buzaglo, as well as a traditional piyut retelling the story of Mattathias.

Hanukkah: A Key to Understanding Rabbinic Judaism with Aryeh Bernstein

In this My Jewish Learning class with Rabbi Aryeh Bernstein, explore laws and traditions of Hanukkah to better understand not only the holiday, but also what Rabbinic Judaism is all about. The Hanukkah celebration, one of American Jewry’s most widely observed Jewish practices, is not derived from the Bible, which was completed long before the time of the Maccabees, but instead from the Rabbis, who wrote down and codified the Oral Torah. The Rabbis even give some clues that Hanukkah is the ultimate Rabbinic mitzvah. Learn why the Rabbis considered Hanukkah so important, and understand how the holiday exemplifies the goals of Rabbinic Judaism overall.

The post Your Guide to Online Hanukkah Events appeared first on My Jewish Learning.

1. Gelt as we know it is a relatively new tradition — and no one knows who invented it.

While coins – “gelt” is Yiddish for coins, or money – have been part of Hanukkah observance for centuries, chocolate gelt is considerably younger. In her book On the Chocolate Trail, Rabbi Deborah Prinz writes that “opinions differ” concerning the origins of chocolate gelt: Some credit America’s Loft candy company with creating it in the 1920s, while others suggest there were European versions earlier that inspired Israel’s Elite candy company. Prinz notes, as well, that chocolate gelt resembles a European Christmas tradition of exchanging gold-covered chocolate coins “commemorating the miracles of St. Nicholas.”

2. The first Hanukkah celebration was actually a delayed Sukkot observance.

The second book of Maccabees quotes from a letter sent circa 125 BCE from the Hasmoneans (the Macabees’ descendants) to the leaders of Egyptian Jewry, describing the holiday as “the festival of Sukkot celebrated in the month of Kislev rather than Tishrei.” Since the Jews were still in caves fighting as guerrillas on Tishrei, 164 BCE, they had been unable to honor the eight-day holiday of Sukkot, which required visiting the Jerusalem Temple; hence it was postponed until after the recapture of Jerusalem and the rededication of the Temple. Many scholars believe it is this connection to Sukkot – and not the Talmudic account of the cruse of oil that lasted eight days – that explains why Hanukkah is eight days long.

3. The books of Maccabees, which tell the story of Hanukkah, weren’t included in the Hebrew Bible – but they are in the Catholic Bible.

There are different theories explaining why the first-century rabbis who canonized the scriptures omitted the Maccabees, ranging from the text’s relative newness at the time to fears of alienating the Roman leadership in control of Jerusalem at the time.

4. Marilyn Monroe owned a music-playing Hanukkah menorah (the Marilyn Monrorah?).

When the Hollywood star converted to Judaism before marrying Jewish playwright Arthur Miller, her future mother-in-law gave her a menorah as a conversion gift. The Hanukkah lamp, which the menorah’s current owner says Mrs. Miller brought back from Jerusalem, has a wind-up music box in its base that plays Hatikvah, Israel’s national anthem. It’s featured in the Jewish Museum in New York City’s exhibit “Becoming Jewish: Warhol’s Liz and Marilyn,” but sadly you can’t wind it up.

5. The game of dreidel was inspired by a German game played at Christmastime, which is itself an imitation of an English and Irish one.

Our Eastern European game of dreidel (including the letters nun, gimmel, hey, shin) is directly based on the German equivalent of the British totum game: N = Nichts = nothing; G = Ganz = all; H = Halb = half; and S = Stell ein = put in. In German, the spinning top was called a “torrel” or “trundl.”

6. Oily food (think latkes and sufganiyot) isn’t Hanukkah’s only culinary tradition.

Traditionally, Hanukkah has included foods with cheese in recognition of Judith, whose liberal use of the salty treat facilitated a victory for the Maccabees.  To combine the two unhealthy but delicious traditions, try this recipe for cheese latkes.

7. On Hanukkah, we celebrate a grisly murder.

The aforementioned Judith had an ulterior motive for plying Assyrian general Holofernes with salty cheese: making him thirsty so he would drink lots of wine and pass out, enabling her to chop off his head and bring it home with her. The beheading – particularly the fact that a woman carried it out – was said to have frightened Holofernes’ troops into fleeing the Maccabees.

8. The next “Thanksgivukkah” (sort of), is only 51 years away.

In 2013, the convergence of Thanksgiving and Hanukkah on Nov. 28 inspired everything from turkey-shaped menorahs to a giant dreidel float in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade. While experts say a full day of Hanukkah won’t coincide with the fourth Thursday in November for thousands of years, the first night of Hanukkah will fall in time for Thanksgiving dinner (assuming you have the meal at dinnertime rather than in the afternoon) on Nov. 27, 2070. So, hang on to this recipe for sweet potato latkes with toasted marshmallows!

9. The largest menorah in the world, according to the Guinness Book of World Records is 32 feet high and weighs 4,000 pounds.

The Shulchan Aruch stipulates that a menorah should be no taller than about 31 feet. Incidentally, Guinness lists at least three other Hanukkah-related records: most dreidels spinning simultaneously for at least 10 seconds (820), most valuable dreidel ($14,000) most people simultaneously lighting menorahs (834) and largest display of lit menorahs (1,000). We’d like to know the most latkes ever eaten in one sitting.

Explore Hanukkah’s history, global traditions, food and more with My Jewish Learning’s “All About Hanukkah” email series. Sign up to take a journey through Hanukkah and go deeper into the Festival of Lights.

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What Are These Works?

This lead us to a discussion of two different sets of ancient texts that are not included in the Hebrew Bible, but whose existence speaks to the richness, creativity, diversity, and complexity of the emerging Judeo-Christian community of Palestine and its surroundings during roughly 200 BCE to 70 CE. One such set is called “Apocrypha” (meaning hidden things in Greek) and refers to a set of works deemed canonical by the Egyptian Jewish community, based in Alexandria, but not included in the smaller canon of the Palestinian Jewish community which became the present-day Tanakh. The early Church preserved these works, in the Latin (Vulgate) and Greek (Septuagint) versions of the Old Testament, and they remain a part of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox canons. Examples of this genre include additions to the books of Esther and Daniel, the Wisdom literature of Solomon and Ben Sira, and the first two books of Maccabees.

The other set is called “Pseudepigrapha,” a collection of texts whose authorship is unknown and ascribed to characters from the Hebrew Bible, thus the name pseudepigrapha, meaning “false-writing” in Greek. The term also includes some texts from the same period, whose extant manuscripts exist in Greek, Ethiopic, Syriac, and Slavonic, and have been preserved by the eastern branches of the Christian Church, primarily the Ethiopian one.

Why Are They Important?

There is great scholarly merit in studying these texts as well as their historical neighbors–the Dead Sea Scrolls that were discovered throughout the Judean desert, most notably at Qumran. Foremost, it sheds light on the political, ideological, and historical reality of the authors and their audience’s time period. These texts not only divulge religious belief and practice, but also give insight into the mundane, yet retrospectively intriguing, daily activities. These ancient texts also elucidate the possible ideological debates surrounding the canonization of Tanakh and the various sectarian forces at play.

With respect to literature, these pieces place into perspective other works which emerged from the same period and that immediately following, including Hellenistic literature written mostly in Greek and the works of Flavius Josephus and Philo. The texts also trace the historical relationship with what became the Christian Scriptures or New Testament and the development of a new religion. Chronologically, they now serve to fill the space between the bible and rabbinic literature, and set the stage for the monumental achievements of rabbinic Judaism.

What Do They Contain?

Both Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha were written–scholars believe–during the same general period of time, and it is not inconceivable to imagine the discovery of future texts that (along with the Qumran library and other assorted scrolls) might continue to inform our knowledge of the world from which they emerged.

Some of the texts in both the Apocrypha and the Pseudepigrapha (as well as the Book of Daniel and the Book of Revelations from the Hebrew Bible and New Testament, respectively) can be referred to as apocalyptic. This term refers to works, often dealing with the nature of the end of days, the eschaton, and the geography, population, and climate of the world of divine creatures or human souls. Apocalyptic literature appears to be a popular genre of this period, and the messianism associated with it is likely part of the worldview that helped give birth to Christianity in the mid-first century CE.

The Apocrypha as a whole is a motley group of texts, each related in their own way to the Bible. 1 Maccabees is famously written in a Greek that appears to be translated in a way that preserves the classical biblical style of the Deuteronomic historian. Other works, such as Esdras 1, additions to Esther and Daniel, Baruch, and the Letter of Jeremiah, appear intent on either rewriting parts of the Bible or filling in gaps in its narrative as perceived by their authors.

Scholars believe that many of these works were written during the second century BCE in the wake of the Maccabean revolt, or in the latter decades of the first century CE after the destruction of the Second Temple. They served as a response to the political and religious challenges of the day, and were placed in their mostly ancient literary contexts so as to be more authoritative to their readers. The historical theories derived from these texts also helps to better understand the original biblical writings.

The works of the Pseudepigrapha continue to build on the themes of the Apocrypha–demonstrating a pre-rabbinic impulse to close gaps and respond to textual difficulties in the text, which would later be enhanced into the rabbinic genre of midrash. Additionally, we see from these texts two important elements. While the authors used biblical stories as their framework, Pseudepigrapha usually differs substantially from the plain-meaning of the original text. The writers used the Bible as an allegorical vehicle to promote their own goals and viewpoints.

Perhaps more significant, this time period centers around the relatively new struggle between the worlds of the West (Greece, Rome, “the Western World”) and the East (the Middle East, the culture that produced the Hebrew and Christian Bibles, rabbinic Judaism, and Pauline Christianity). There existed a need for individuals (e.g., the authors of the Letter of Aristeas and 4 Maccabees) to begin reconciling the differences and crafting a philosophy of that somehow allows the two systems of belief, or the authoritative texts from the two traditions, to speak to and through each other, perhaps even with one voice.

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This symbolic act shifted during the time of the rabbis from the lighting of a solitary candle each night of the holiday to the lighting of an increasing number of candles throughout the eight nights of Hanukkah, according to the custom of the House of Hillel. These lights were to be placed outside, in a public space, during the most heavily trafficked time of the evening. Today, the variety of practices range from carefully measured oil lamps to electric menorahs in department store windows to the lighting of 30-foot Hanukkah menorahs in public squares in cities all over the world.

The requirement to kindle lights on Hanukkah could easily be fulfilled with the lighting of a single light. This solitary light was all that was needed to symbolize the miracle of this late holiday–be it the divine intervention of the story of the oil, or the Maccabean victory. At an early stage, the rabbis delineated a mehadrin (better or more meticulous) way to perform the mitzvah, namely to allow for one candle per family member each day.

The mehadrin min hamehadrin (the most meticulous) method would be to do precisely what has since become the common practice–to begin with one candle and add a candle for each subsequent night of the holiday. Along with the development of how many lights would suffice to properly publicize the miracle, questions arose surrounding the actual placement of the Hanukkah lights: How can the lights be placed in a way that maximizes their exposure to the public.

Maximum Exposure

Not unlike the idea behind TV networks’ “prime time,” the rabbis were careful to determine the proper time for lighting the hanukkiyah (Hanukkah lamp, also known as a menorah) as the one during which the largest amount of traffic would be able to view the miracle renewed in every house. During the 30 minutes or so that followed sunset, people made their way back home from the market or workplace, and this would be the optimum time to have passersby walk through what must have seemed like an endless number of kindled lights. The lights were to be lit outside in the courtyard, or if one lived on another floor, in a window so that people could see it.

Today, it has become common for people to place their Hanukkah lights in the window for the neighbors to see; and one can even find some houses in Israel that have a special niche facing the front, in order to allow people to place their lit hanukkiyot (the plural of hanukkiyah) in a glass-enclosed display cases of their very own.

Dangerous Publicity

In a world that was not always tolerant of varying religious practices, the rabbis permitted the lighting of the Hanukkah lights inside on a table, if one felt that one was in a she’at ha-d’khak (a time of danger). This teaches us that, while publicizing the miracle is the central reason of the holiday, publicizing the miracle to one’s family is the essence, and further steps need not be taken if one perceives dangerous consequences.

Interestingly, even in the United States, where religious freedom is touted as one of the proudest achievements, the concept of she’at ha-d’khak has been tested, though not in the traditional manner of taking Hanukkah displays inside during times of danger. One modern example: In Billings, Montana, in 1993, a small boy placed a Hanukkah decoration in his bedroom window, only to have it destroyed when a rock shattered the window. In reaction to what was likely vandalism by members of an Aryan group, a campaign was started to have both Jews and non-Jews (the clear majority in Billings) decorate their windows with a hanukkiyah or with a picture of one. Ten thousand people joined in this campaign, and while several windows were still smashed, this town became quite an inspiration to many who appreciated its courage in the face of religious hatred and intolerance.

It is the Chabad-Lubavitch sect of Hasidic Judaism that has propagated the public display of hanukkiyot in cities throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe–and even to Moscow in 1991. Their large, angular hanukkiyot can be seen in public places across the world. These displays also have made headlines because of controversies they have generated concerning the separation of church and state.

Litigating Hanukkiyah Displays

In 1989, the issue came as far as the U.S. Supreme Court in Allegheny County vs. Greater Pittsburgh ACLU. The court was to decide whether the county violated the First Amendment’s clause establishing that the government may not endorse or prohibit the free exercise of any religion. At issue was the displaying of a crèche (a Christian nativity scene) and a hanukkiyah on public property. The court ruled against the crèche but allowed the displaying of a hanukkiyah along with a Christmas tree, since the court perceived these to be secular symbols of religious holidays and therefore not an endorsement of any particular religious belief.

While this issue still causes its fair share of controversy (including issues particular to public schools), it has become a familiar sight to see even 30-foot hanukkiyot lit in places such as Central Park in New York City. In fact, even President George W. Bush made a point of lighting a hanukkiyah at the White House in 2001–using a menorah that made its way from Lvov, Poland, after the Holocaust.

Today, one can scarcely find a Jewish home without at least one hanukkiyah, and candles can be found in places as mundane as the local pharmacy. Local and national politicians, businesses from banks to bakeries, and even television stations are displaying hanukkiyot for publicity, solidarity, and sometimes as a response to over-zealous Christmas displays.

All of this public attention has not caused the family candle-lighting to disappear, however. On the contrary, more and more families are finding this simple ritual a very meaningful time for their families to gather. The miracle of Hanukkah will continue to be publicized in the homes of Jews throughout the world, even as it is granted ever-increasing exposure in the public eye.

Explore Hanukkah’s history, global traditions, food and more with My Jewish Learning’s “All About Hanukkah” email series. Sign up to take a journey through Hanukkah and go deeper into the Festival of Lights.

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Issues Faced by Interfaith Couples

For interfaith couples in which one partner is Jewish and the other identifies as Christian, the holidays of Hanukkah and Christmas pose opportunities and challenges. When children are not involved, couples frequently share their respective traditions and try out ways to observe the holidays together.

Many holiday practices can be shared without violating either partner’s religious integrity. Prior to having children, the vast majority of interfaith couples I’ve known over the years tell me that the December holidays are not especially problematic and can even be enjoyable times to share each other’s traditions.

When children are involved, however, the December holidays are more likely to be stressful. Couples often struggle over which holiday to observe or how the respective holidays will be celebrated. Even when the children are being raised as either clearly Jewish or Christian, questions may arise about celebrating the “other” holiday. Parents often ask if they will confuse their children.

This issue surfaces most commonly when the children are being raised as Jews. Christmas observance can be perceived as a threat to their children’s Jewish identity and parents worry that others will question their commitment.

Parents’ ambivalence or difficulty in making decisions about children’s religious identity can lead to struggles between parents who try to attract children toward either religious tradition through holiday observances.  Clearly, “letting the children decide” poses a real risk when Christmas and Hanukkah become competitions in which the number of presents is what matters most.

Some parents use holiday observances as a substitute for choosing a religious affiliation or education for the children. If parents have not decided on their children’s religious upbringing, Christmas or Hanukkah observance can send signals to others that the children are being raised as either Christians or Jews–whether or not that is the case.

Guidelines for Making the Holidays Family Celebrations, Not Battlegrounds

Interfaith parents can lessen tensions and enjoy the December holiday season by making a commitment that Christmas and Hanukkah will not become a battleground. The following guidelines can help parents negotiate the December dilemma.

Share childhood holiday memories. When partners understand the significance of various activities and symbolic objects, greater openness and creative ideas for incorporating the meaning in holiday observances may emerge.

Respect each other’s heritage. More than tolerance is needed to communicate acceptance of each parent’s tradition. Sincere appreciation for the meaning and richness of both Christmas and Hanukkah will help parents to teach children effectively and to choose activities as partners rather than as adversaries.

Communicate the real spirit of the holidays. For example, families can select charities or organizations and make a donation rather than buy extra gifts. Volunteering to help others in need teaches children about the value of social action rather than materialism.

Recognize each partner’s needs and work out ways to meet them. For example, one parent may wish to honor his or her heritage by having a holiday symbol at home or by visiting extended family. Denying this need will breed resentment, whereas, negotiating an acceptable plan recognizes the partner’s need.

Keep the focus on the children’s needs. Although parents’ needs are important, they should not overshadow those of the children.

Try using the analogy of a birthday party when both holidays are observed and children are being raised in one religion. Children can understand that everyone wants other people to share a birthday celebration. Parents can use this common experience to explain that the family is helping Mom or Dad to celebrate her or his holiday so it will be fun and not lonely, just like going to someone else’s birthday party. It can be fun to share even if it’s not your birthday party!

When possible, celebrate holidays with extended family. Grandparents in particular wish to share holiday traditions with their grandchildren. Even when children are not being raised in the grandparents’ religion,  family celebrations can be avenues for relating, creating valued memories, and passing on traditions.  Regardless of the specific holiday plans, “family togetherness” can result when the themes of inclusiveness and sharing overshadow those of competition and control.

Work as partners to develop new family traditions. Although it is easier to let others make the plans and do the work, creating ways to celebrate aspects of the holidays unites the family and avoids observing holidays vicariously through the grandparents.

Avoid making a competition out of the holidays. Parents who use presents to show children how wonderful “their” holiday is send the implicit message that it is better to identify with the religion associated with the most gifts.

Help children understand that they can enjoy Christmas and Hanukkah activities without betraying either parent or their religious upbringing. At the same time, use holidays to reinforce children’s religious identity. Even children ask each other, “Are you Christmas or Hanukkah?” Children want to be able to have a holiday of their own. If the family celebrates both holidays, help children answer questions with responses such as, “We have Hanukkah at home and visit my grandparents for Christmas” or “We do something for both Christmas and Hanukkah because my mom (or dad) is Christian (or grew up Catholic or Protestant, etc.) and my dad (or mom) is Jewish.”

December holidays come around every year. Negotiating ways to create family celebrations rather than struggles is worth the effort. Have a wonderful season this year!

Reprinted with permission from The Guide to Jewish Interfaith Family Life: An InterfaithFamily.com Handbook (Jewish Lights Publishing).

Explore Hanukkah’s history, global traditions, food and more with My Jewish Learning’s “All About Hanukkah” email series. Sign up to take a journey through Hanukkah and go deeper into the Festival of Lights.

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The prayer expresses our gratitude to God “for the miracles and for the redemption and for the mighty deeds and for the victories and for the battles that You performed for our fathers in those days at this time.” We then proceed to retell the miracles of Purim and Hanukkah.

Which miracles? The Hanukkah passage is strange. It recounts the Maccabean victory over the Syrian-Greek superpower — “You delivered the strong into the hands of the weak, the many into the hands of the few, the impure into the hands of the pure, the wicked into the hands of the righteous and the arrogant into the hands of those engaged with Your Torah” — and nothing else.

The omission is staggering. There was a second miracle on Hanukkah, when one jar of oil, enough for one day, burned for eight. That’s why we light the menorah. Why does the holiday’s primary prayer omit any mention of this miracle? It’s like writing a prayer for Passover without the Ten Plagues. A cynic might even say that the military victory wasn’t a miracle at all. Maybe the Jews were just better strategists or more passionate on the battlefield.

When we celebrate a holiday, we look for the exciting and the unusual. It is the supernatural which captures our attention, not the mundane. The commonplace does not deserve a holiday. And so we celebrate Hanukkah as the anniversary of a supernatural miracle by lighting the menorah.

But the act of prayer is fundamentally different. It is a celebration of the routine, of the usual, of God’s gifts which surround us daily. In prayer we don’t look for the once-in-a-lifetime miraculous event to praise and thank God. We look to thousands of small things with which He has blessed us: breathing air, going to the bathroom, eating food, the ability to hear and see and speak, to love and maintain friendships, to think and to read.

All these are mundane activities, yet according to Jewish tradition, they demand the utmost gratitude to God. To thank God only for the supernatural is an insult to the millions of everyday kindnesses he performs.

Winning a war against those bent on destroying one’s way of life demands gratitude, but it is not a celebration. War is always unpleasant, even if one wins. It involves the loss of life and inflicting suffering on others. It is a moment to soberly reflect on the tremendous blessings surrounding us — including the painful and difficult victory over our enemies.

The authors of Al Hanisim exclude the oil miracle as if to say, “Now we are praying, thanking God for His goodness and the blessing He bestows on us.” This decision suggests a larger truth about the act of prayer. When we pray, we are thanking God for those things that, while not as flashy as the miracle of the oil, are nevertheless crucial to our freedom and wellbeing.

Read Rabbi Rachel Barenblatt’s take on Al Hanisim as a call for us to partner with God in making miracles happen.

The post Al Hanisim: A Holiday Prayer of Thanks for Everyday Miracles appeared first on My Jewish Learning.

Why do Jews play dreidel?

There are a number of traditional explanations for why Jews play dreidel on Hanukkah.

The custom is often explained with a legend that, during the time of the Maccabees, when Jewish children were forbidden from studying Torah, they would defy the decree and study anyway. When a Greek official would come close they would put away their books and take out spinning tops, claiming they were just playing games.

In A Different Light: The Hanukkah Book of Celebration, Rabbi David Golinkin writes that a number of rabbis also developed elaborate numerological (Gematria) explanations for the dreidel game, using the numerical equivalents of the letters on it. For example, the sum of the numerical values of nun, gimmel, hey and shin is 358, which is also the numerical equivalent of the Hebrew letters spelling Moshiach. the Hebrew word for Messiah.

Others, Golinkin noted, have argued that the letters nun, gimmel, hey and shin are supposed to represent the four kingdoms that tried to destroy the Jews in ancient times: N = Nebuchadnezzar (Babylon); H = Haman (Persia); G = Gog (Greece) and S = Seir (Rome).

In reality, according to Golinkin, the dreidel is not a Jewish invention, but is instead an adaptation of a centuries-old game played in many cultures.

Learn more about the dreidel’s history here. 

What is the significance of the Hebrew markings on the dreidel?

The letters on the dreidel are the first letters in a Hebrew phrase, Nes (נס) gadol (גדול) haya (היה) sham (שׁם), which means “a great miracle happened there” (“there” being the land of Israel). In Israel, the letter pay, for the Hebrew word po (פּה) meaning “here,” replaces the letter shin to spell out “a great miracle happened here.”

How do you play dreidel?

Check out the video below or read this article.

I played dreidel and found it really boring. Are there any ways to liven it up?

A number of enterprising people have come up with alternatives and variations over the years. Here are five suggestions:

1. In 2009, Jennie Rivlin Roberts and her husband Webb Roberts developed a game called “No Limit Texas Dreidel,” which mashes up dreidel with “Texas Hold ‘Em” poker.
2. You can find several dreidel variations and dreidel-game ideas here.
3. After a lengthy explanation of traditional dreidel’s many failings, this 2010 Slate article introduces a new version it calls “Speed Dreidel.”
4. If you are hosting an adults-only dreidel game, you may want to try our partner site Alma’s Official Dreidel Drinking Game.
5. Have a a dreidel-spinning competition, to see whose dreidel can spin the longest.

Are dreidels really made of clay?

Contrary to the popular children’s song, most dreidels on the market today are made of plastic, wood or metal.

What’s the world record for number of dreidels spun simultaneously in one place?

We’re glad you asked. As of July 2017 (yes, seems like an odd time of year for a dreidel competition, but…), 820 dreidels spun simultaneously for 10 seconds at the Boy Scout Jamboree in Glen Jean, West Virginia.

Where can I buy a dreidel?

You can buy a dreidel at any Judaica store in the weeks leading up to Hanukkah or choose from a wide variety of sizes and price points online. Or you can try to purchase the world’s most valuable dreidel (according to the Guinness Book of World Records), a $14,000 diamond-and-gemstone dreidel, from Chabad of South Palm Beach.

Explore Hanukkah’s history, global traditions, food and more with My Jewish Learning’s “All About Hanukkah” email series. Sign up to take a journey through Hanukkah and go deeper into the Festival of Lights.

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Below are some of our favorite Hanukkah-celebrating cats and dogs — and a few other domesticated animals — of Instagram. Share your photos with us by adding the hashtag: #JewishPets. And be sure to follow @myjewishlearningcom on Instagram.

1. Who wants to play dreidel?

2. These latkes are pup approved.

3. Hoppy Hanukkah!

4. Hats off to this doggy.

5. This snake is ready for eight crazy nights.

6. Who needs a heat lamp when you have Hanukkah sweaters?

7. Who will win this round of dreidel?

8. Even hamsters love gelt.

9. Eight nights, eight presents!

10. Everyone can appreciate a dog-shaped menorah.

11. This kitty definitely knows a gimmel from a nun.

12. This guy is showing off his new Hanukkah sweater on the town.

13. The family holiday card has never been cuter.

14. He just wanted to help decorate.

15. “I thought you said it’s a meow-norah.”

Explore Hanukkah’s history, global traditions, food and more with My Jewish Learning’s “All About Hanukkah” email series. Sign up to take a journey through Hanukkah and go deeper into the Festival of Lights.

The post The 15 Best Hanukkah Pet Pictures on Instagram appeared first on My Jewish Learning.

Best of all, everything is available online, so you can shop from the comfort of your home (or anywhere else you happen to be). Just remember to plan ahead so everything arrives in time, as the first night of Hanukkah 2022 begins on Sunday, Dec. 18 at sundown.

Hanukkah Sweaters for Everyone, From Babies to Dogs

18 Affordable Hanukkah Presents for Everyone on Your List

Kveller’s Guide to Buying Hanukkah Pajamas for the Entire Family

Hanukkah Gift Guide for the Undecided Giver

The Nosher’s Roundup of 9 Jewish Cookbooks That Make Great Hanukkah Gifts

My Jewish Learning’s Jewish Book Recommendations For Every Age

Gift Ideas for Newcomers to Judaism

12 Great Judaism 101 Books

You may also find what you’re looking for in our Wedding Gifts Guide and Bar/Bat Mitzvah Gifts Guide.

Explore Hanukkah’s history, global traditions, food and more with My Jewish Learning’s “All About Hanukkah” email series. Sign up to take a journey through Hanukkah and go deeper into the Festival of Lights.

The post Hanukkah Gift Guide Roundup appeared first on My Jewish Learning.

One 19th-century rabbi maintained that Jews played with the dreidel in order to fool the Greeks if they were caught studying Torah, which had been outlawed. Others figured out elaborate gematriot [numerological explanations based on the fact that every Hebrew letter has a numerical equivalent] and word plays for the letters nun, gimmel, hey, shin. For example, nun, gimmel, hey, shin in gematria equals 358, which is also the numerical equivalent of mashiach or Messiah!

Finally, the letters nun, gimmel, hey, shin are supposed to represent the four kingdoms that tried to destroy us [in ancient times]: N = Nebuchadnetzar = Babylon; H = Haman = Persia = Madai; G = Gog = Greece; and S = Seir = Rome.

As a matter of fact, all of these elaborate explanations were invented after the fact.

The dreidel game originally had nothing to do with Hanukkah; it has been played by various people in various languages for many centuries.

In England and Ireland there is a game called totum or teetotum that is especially popular at Christmastime. In English, this game is first mentioned as “totum” ca. 1500-1520. The name comes from the Latin “totum,” which means “all.” By 1720, the game was called T- totum or teetotum, and by 1801 the four letters already represented four words in English: T = Take all; H = Half; P = Put down; and N = Nothing.

Our Eastern European game of dreidel (including the letters nun, gimmel, hey, shin) is directly based on the German equivalent of the totum game: N = Nichts = nothing; G = Ganz = all; H = Halb = half; and S = Stell ein = put in. In German, the spinning top was called a “torrel” or “trundl,” and in Yiddish it was called a “dreidel,” a “fargl,” a “varfl” [= something thrown], “shtel ein” [= put in], and “gor, gorin” [= all].

When Hebrew was revived as a spoken language, the dreidel was called, among other names, a sevivon, which is the one that caught on.

Thus the dreidel game represents an irony of Jewish history. In order to celebrate the holiday of Hanukkah, which celebrates our victory over cultural assimilation, we play the dreidel game, which is an excellent example of cultural assimilation! Of course, there is a world of difference between imitating non-Jewish games and worshiping idols, but the irony remains nonetheless.

Reprinted with permission of the author from A Different Light: The Hanukkah Book of Celebration published by the Shalom Hartman Institute and Devora Publishing.

Explore Hanukkah’s history, global traditions, food and more with My Jewish Learning’s “All About Hanukkah” email series. Sign up to take a journey through Hanukkah and go deeper into the Festival of Lights.

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Ironically enough, these books that celebrated the Maccabees’ victory over Hellenism survived not in Hebrew but only in the Greek language. Greek became one of the common tongues of the eastern Mediterranean, as Hellenism grew stronger over the next few centuries. And it was the most Hellenized Jews who most honored these memorials of resistance to Hellenism.

Indeed, the Maccabean books survived into modern times only because some of these Hellenized Jews became recruits to Christianity, and brought with them the assumption that these Books of the Maccabees were holy writings. The Christian Church then included Maccabees among its version of what it called the “Old Testament.” They were among the books, available in Greek rather than Hebrew, that the early Church father Jerome called “the Apocrypha.” But they held no honored standing among those Jews who continued being Jewish.

For the classic Jewish view of the origins of Hanukkah, therefore, we must turn to the Talmud. Here we find Hanukkah in a most peculiar position. It is the only one of the traditional festivals that does not have a place in the Mishnah — the earlier level, or layer, of the Talmud. And in the later layer — the Gemara — it is treated in a very off-hand way, without the focused attention that is normal for deciding how to observe a holy day.

The rabbis are discussing what kinds of candles may be used for Shabbat when one of them asks, rather casually, whether the rules for Hanukkah candles are different. They explore this for a bit, talk about how the candles are to be lit, and then one of them says, as if he cannot quite remember, “What is Hanukkah?” They answer him:

Our rabbis taught: On the twenty-fifth of Kislev [begin] the eight days of Hanukkah, on which lamentation for the dead and fasting are forbidden. For when the Greeks entered the Temple, they defiled all the oils in it, and when the Hasmonean dynasty prevailed over them and defeated them, they searched and found only one bottle of oil sealed by the High Priest. It contained only enough for one day’s lighting. Yet a miracle was brought about with it, and they lit [with that oil] for eight days. The following year they were established as a festival, with Hallel [psalms of praise] and Thanksgiving.

Shabbat 21b

And at once the rabbis go back to discussing the candles. They have no more to say about the internal divisions of the Jews, the revolt against Antiochus, the victory of the Maccabees, and the rededication of the Temple. Why this cautious attitude toward Hanukkah?

The reason is that the rabbis were not happy with the Maccabean approach to Jewish life. They were writing in the period when similar revolts against Rome, seeking to win the Jews political independence, to turn Judea into a rocky fortress, and to toughen the Jewish people had been systematically and brutally smashed by the iron fist of Rome. Only the rabbinical kind of power — the power not of rock but water, fluid and soft from moment to moment and yet irresistible over the long run — had survived. Only the rabbinical kind of power had protected and preserved Jewish peoplehood.

Reprinted with permission from Seasons of Our Joy (Beacon Press).

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He marched into Jerusalem, vandalized the Temple, erected an idol on the altar, and desecrated its holiness with the blood of swine. Decreeing that studying Torah, observing the Sabbath, and circumcising Jewish boys were punishable by death, he sent Syrian overseers and soldiers to villages throughout Judea to enforce the edicts and force Jews to engage in idol worship.

When the Syrian soldiers reached Modin (about 12 miles northwest of the capital), they demanded that the local leader, Mattathias the Kohein (a member of the priestly class), be an example to his people by sacrificing a pig on a portable pagan altar. The elder refused and killed not only the Jew who stepped forward to do the Syrian’s bidding, but also the king’s representative.

With the rallying cry “Whoever is for God, follow me!” Mattathias and his five sons (Jonathan, Simon, Judah, Eleazar, and Yohanan) fled to the hills and caves of the wooded Judean wilderness.

Joined by a ragtag army of others like them, simple farmers dedicated to the laws of Moses, armed only with spears, bows and arrows, and rocks from the terrain, the Maccabees, as Mattathias’ sons, particularly Judah, came to be known, fought a guerrilla war against the well-trained, well-equipped, seemingly endless forces of the mercenary Syrian army.

In three years, the Maccabees cleared the way back to the Temple Mount, which they reclaimed. They cleaned the Temple and dismantled the defiled altar and constructed a new one in its place. Three years to the day after Antiochus’ mad rampage (Kislev 25, 165 BCE), the Maccabees held a dedication (hanukkah) of the Temple with proper sacrifice, rekindling of the golden menorah, and eight days of celebration and praise to God. [Proper] Jewish worship had been reestablished.

Perhaps the most famous part of the story is what happened next: a tiny jar of oil kept the candles burning for the full eight days. However, this detail does not appear in any Jewish texts until 600 years later in the Talmud, mentioned in a larger discussion of why Hanukkah observance is so important.

Reprinted with permission from Celebrate! The Complete Jewish Holiday Handbook.

Explore Hanukkah’s history, global traditions, food and more with My Jewish Learning’s “All About Hanukkah” email series. Sign up to take a journey through Hanukkah and go deeper into the Festival of Lights.

The post What You Need to Know About the Hanukkah Story appeared first on My Jewish Learning.

These books tell the story of the Maccabees, a small band of Jewish fighters who liberated the Land of Israel from the Syrian Greeks who occupied it. Under the reign of Antiochus IV Epiphanes, the Syrian Greeks sought to impose their Hellenistic culture, which many Jews found attractive. By 167 B.C.E, Antiochus intensified his campaign by defiling the Temple in Jerusalem and banning Jewish practice. The Maccabees — led by the five sons of the priest Mattathias, especially Judah — waged a three-year campaign that culminated in the cleaning and rededication of the Temple.

Since they were unable to celebrate the holiday of Sukkot at its proper time in early autumn, the victorious Maccabees decided that Sukkot should be celebrated once they rededicated the Temple, which they did on the 25th of the month of Kislev in the year 164 B.C.E. Since Sukkot lasts seven days, this became the timeframe adopted for Hanukkah.

Josephus’ Account

About 250 years after these events, the first-century Jewish historian Flavius Josephus wrote his account of the origins of the holiday. Josephus referred to the holiday as the Festival of Lights and not as Hanukkah. Josephus seems to be connecting the newfound liberty that resulted from the events with the image of light, and the holiday still is often referred to by the title Josephus gave it.

The Talmud and the Miracle of Oil

By the early rabbinic period about a century later — at the time that the Mishnah (the first compilation of oral rabbinic law included in the Talmud) was redacted — the holiday had become known by the name of Hanukkah (“Dedication”). However, the Mishnah does not give us any details concerning the rules and customs associated with the holiday.

It is in the Gemara (a commentary on the Mishnah) of the Babylonian Talmud that we are given more details and can clearly see the development of both the holiday and the stories associated with it. The discussion of Hanukkah is mentioned in Tractate Shabbat. Only three lines are devoted to the events of Hanukkah while three pages detail when, where and how the Hanukkah lights should be lit.

READ: 9 Things You Didn’t Know About Hanukkah

Completed approximately 600 years after the events of the Maccabees, the Talmud contains the extant version of the famous story of the miraculous jar of oil that burned for eight days. The Talmud relates this stories in the context of a discussion about the fact that fasting and grieving are not allowed on Hanukkah. In order to understand why the observance of Hanukkah is so important, the Rabbis recount the story of the miraculous jar of oil.

Perhaps the Amoraim — the sages of the Talmud — were retelling an old oral legend in order to associate the holiday with what they believed to be a blatant, supernatural miracle. Although the seemingly miraculous victory of the Maccabees over the Syrian Greeks was certainly part of the holiday narrative, this event still lies within the natural human realm. The Rabbis may have felt this to be insufficient justification for the holiday’s gaining legal stature that would prohibit fasting and include the saying of certain festival prayers. Therefore the story of a supernatural event centering on the oil — a miracle — would unquestionably answer any concerns about the legitimacy of celebrating the holiday.

Hanukkah in Modern Times

Hanukkah gained new meaning with the rise of Zionism. As the early pioneers in Israel found themselves fighting to defend against attacks, they began to connect with the ancient Jewish fighters who stood their ground in the same place. The holiday of Hanukkah, with its positive portrayal of the Jewish fighter, spoke to the reality of the early Zionists who felt particularly connected to the message of freedom and liberty.

READ: 8 Hanukkah Traditions From Around the World

Hanukkah began to find new expression in the years leading up to the founding of the modern State of Israel. In the post-Holocaust world, Jews are acutely aware of the issues raised by Hanukkah: oppression, identity, religious freedom and expression, and the need to fight for national independence. Hanukkah has developed into a holiday rich with historical significance, physical and supernatural miracle narratives, and a dialogue with Jewish history.

Read more from our partner sites Kveller, Hey Alma and The Nosher:
The History of Hanukkah Donuts
The Fascinating History of Hanukkah Merch in America

Explore Hanukkah’s history, global traditions, food and more with My Jewish Learning’s “All About Hanukkah” email series. Sign up to take a journey through Hanukkah and go deeper into the Festival of Lights.

The post The History of Hanukkah appeared first on My Jewish Learning.

Answer: What an appropriate question! Even in the days of the Talmud, our rabbis dealt with this issue of danger. In Shabbat 21b, the rabbis explain:

It is a mitzvah to place the Hanukkah lamp at the entrance to one’s house on the outside, so that all can see it. If he lived upstairs, he places it at the window adjacent to the public domain. And in a time of danger, one places the menorah on the table, and that is sufficient to fulfill his obligation.

Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 21b

The law of publicizing the miracle of Hanukkah turned from outward facing — placed next to the public domain — to inward facing, meaning that it was more important for people in the house to see the candles than someone outside in the street to see them. 

Therefore you can certainly light a menorah in a prominent place in the house that will only be seen by those inside the house. I think that it might be important to take the risk and publicize that we are proud Jews, but that is a decision for you to make. 

As far as fulfilling the mitzvah of lighting Hanukkah candles, you are on solid ground doing it inside the house. Some actually prefer to do it inside rather than in the window and will place the menorah on a little table next to the mezuzah in an inner doorway. This custom also originates in the Talmud (Shabbat 22a). 

Happy Hanukkah!

Rabbi Asher Lopatin is the spiritual leader of Kehillat Etz Chaim in Detroit, Michigan.

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Due to its proximity to Christmas, Hanukkah has become one of the most well-known Jewish holidays, despite being a minor holiday that isn’t even mentioned in the Torah. While “Happy Holidays” isn’t inappropriate to say during the Festival of Lights, there are several Hanukkah-specific phrases you can use to greet someone on Hanukkah.

In English, it’s perfectly normal to say “Happy Hanukkah.” To say Happy Hanukkah in Hebrew, you can say chag chanuka sameach, (pronounced chahg cha-nu-KAH sah-MAY-ach.)

In Israel, it is common to just say chanuka sameach. Some Israelis prefer chag urim sameach (pronounced chahg oo-REEM sah-MAY-ach), which literally translates to “Happy Festival of Lights.” 

Prefer Yiddish? Wish your friends Ah Freilichin Hanukkah, (a happy Hanukkah). Less common but also beautiful: A Lichtiger Hanukkah, meaning a Hanukkah full of light.

And in Ladino (Judeo-Spanish) you can say Hanukah alegre — happy Hanukkah!

Want to deepen your Hanukkah vocabulary even more? Check out these must-know Hanukkah words and phrases.

If you want to know how to greet your friends and family on other Jewish holidays, some of which have their own special greetings, check out these articles:

• How to Greet Someone on Rosh Hashanah
• How to Greet Someone on Yom Kippur
• How to Greet Someone on Sukkot
• How to Greet Someone on Passover

Got other Hanukkah questions? Here are a few more articles that may be of interest:

• Why is Hanukkah called the Festival of Lights?
• What is the meaning of Hanukkah?
• How long does Hanukkah last?
• What’s the best way to spell Hanukkah?
• Why do we eat latkes on Hanukkah?

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How do you spell the name of the candle-lighting holiday that falls each year around the onset of winter? Like so many questions in Judaism, this one has no right answer.

The main complication is the first letter, which corresponds to the eighth letter of the Hebrew alphabet: chet (or het, or heth, or cheth; there’s no right spelling there either). There is no English equivalent of the chet sound, which is rendered in transliteration variously with a h, ch or kh. Those looking to emphasize the guttural sound of the chet will often use ch, while those looking for the closest English equivalent letter tend towards the h, also the eighth letter of the alphabet.

Another variation stems from the final letter. In Hebrew, that letter is hay, and in the Hebrew pronunciation it’s essentially silent. Many will add an “h” at the end to indicate the presence of the hay, but it doesn’t add much phonetically, so others may skip it.

The third letter of the word Hanukkah is a kaf and it is pronounced as a hard k due to the placement of a dagesh (written as a small dot) in the middle of the letter. Grammatically, this indicates that the kaf is doubled, which is why many spellings of Hanukkah have two k’s.

Just about the only letter about which there is complete agreement is the second one: nun. This letter is always rendered as a single n.

None of these spelling choices are inherently superior, and tastes and styles change over time. Chanukah was at one time the preferred spelling, and remains so among traditionalists. As of this writing, Hanukkah is the most common English spelling — judging from, among other things, Google hits. So that’s what we go with at My Jewish Learning, as do many major newspapers. But the other spellings still show up regularly.

Read about the five major differences between Hanukkah in Israel and the U.S. from Kveller.com

Explore Hanukkah’s history, global traditions, food and more with My Jewish Learning’s “All About Hanukkah” email series. Sign up to take a journey through Hanukkah and go deeper into the Festival of Lights.

The post How Do You Spell Hanukkah? appeared first on My Jewish Learning.