Hanukkah: The Festival of Lights

Hanukkah, also known as the Festival of Lights, is an eight-day Jewish holiday that begins at nightfall on December 7 and ends on December 15. The name of the holiday, Hanukkah, means ‘dedication’ in Hebrew, and it commemorates the Jewish victory over the Greek armies that occupied their land.

The main ritual of Hanukkah involves lighting a menorah, a candelabra with eight branches, one for each night of the holiday. Starting from the first night, a candle is lit each night until the menorah is fully illuminated on the eighth night. This beautiful tradition is why Hanukkah is often referred to as the Festival of Lights.

As part of the festivities, people who celebrate Hanukkah indulge in delicious fried foods such as latkes, which are fried potato pancakes served with applesauce, rugelach pastries, and deep-fried or jelly doughnuts. While the focus of Hanukkah is not on giving consumer gifts, it is customary to give money or ‘gelt’ and dreidels, which are four-sided spinning tops with Hebrew inscriptions. These gifts are often given to children and serve as a reminder of the miracle of the oil.

Celebrants of Hanukkah also engage in acts of charity, increasing their donations each day in correlation with the growing number of lit candles on the menorah. The holiday is a time for reflection and religious devotion, as well as an opportunity to come together as a community and celebrate the triumph of the Jewish people.

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