As winter approaches and our days grow shorter, we celebrate Chanukah — the “Festival of Lights” — to bring light into the darkness. This eight-day festival, usually celebrated in December, has developed a reputation as a sort of Jewish alternative to Christmas: a joyous winter holiday filled with family gatherings, gift-giving, and games. If you’ve always wanted to learn more about Chanukah — its origins, how it’s celebrated, and what “Chanukah” even means — we’re here to help.
The Story of Chanukah
“Chanukah,” which translates to “rededication,” commemorates the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem the 2nd century. Like many Jewish holidays, Chanukah celebrates Jewish persistence — in this case, against the Syrian King Antiochus. Antiochus’s army desecrated the Temple and decreed that Jews be put to death if they studied Torah or observed Shabbat. The other option was to convert.
Mattathias, an elder in the community, refused to play by Antiochus’s rules. A war broke out between the Syrian army and a group of Jewish fighters known as the Maccabees. The Maccabees prevailed in battle and set to work repairing and rededicating the Temple. The story goes to that Maccabees lit a menorah with a small jug of oil, which was only supposed to last one night, but miraculously, the candles burned for eight whole nights!
Celebrating Chanukah at Home
Each year, Jews celebrate the miracle of Chanukah by lighting a nine-armed candelabra called a menorah or chanukiah. We start by lighting the middle candle, called the shamash, and use it to light a new candle each night.
Families typically celebrate Chanukah at home by lighting candles, exchanging gifts, and eating greasy, oily foods. Latkes, or potato pancakes, and jelly-filled donuts, called sufganiyot, are both popular choices.
Another popular Chanukah tradition is playing dreidel, a game with a four-sided top. Each side of the dreidel is marked with a Hebrew letter, which stand for the phrase “A Great Miracle Happened There/Here.”
Letter Nun/Nes means “miracle”
Letter Gimmel/Gadol means “great” or “big”
Letter Hay/Hayah means “was” or “happened”
Letter Shin/Shahm means “there” (for those of us in the Diaspora)
Alternatively – Letter Pey/Po means “here” (for those in Israel)
Fun fact: The popular song “I Have A Little Dreidel” was composed by Temple De Hirsch Sinai’s own Samuel Goldfarb, who served as Music Director from 1930 to 1968.
Celebrate Chanukah with Us!
While Chanukah is typically celebrated at home, synagogues often host community Chanukah events, including special services and candle-lighting. Here at Temple, we welcome the Festival of Lights with a Chanukah Celebration for congregants of all ages.
This year’s Chanukah Celebration will take place at our Bellevue Campus on Friday, December 16. We’ve had such an overwhelming response to this event and we cannot welcome any more registrations for our latke dinner. However, all are welcome to join us at 6:30 PM in the Goldfarb-Schwartz Sanctuary for Shabbat services, songs from our Jennifer Rosen Meade Preschool students, Chanukah candle-lighting, and sufganiyot.
Visit our blog to learn more about Jewish traditions and what’s going on at Temple!