Hanukkah, The Festival of Lights: What is it?

Whilst to some students Hanukkah may be a familiar topic, I have found that whenever I’ve talked about it, or tried to talk about it, many people only have a rather generalised idea of the holiday, some knowing only the basics, and some knowing absolute bubkes about it: nothing, zilch, nada. Some think it’s Jewish Christmas, some know it has something to do with Candles, some not even knowing that word existed. So, recognising that this may be a rather foreign concept for many people here, I realised that for this holiday season I should probably set the record straight and inform whoever ends up reading this what many people across the world are going to be celebrating this holiday season, what the history behind it is, and how is it celebrated?

So, as with much of Jewish history, Hanukkah originated out of a time where the Jews were being persecuted, and their culture on the brink of collapse. In 168 BCE Jerusalem was occupied and the Great Temple was sacked and desecrated by the army of Antiochus IV of the Seleucid Empire. Under his reign Judaism was outlawed the Temple was renamed to honour Zeus, and Jewish practices were banned. 

Illustration by Sheryl Ho

Out of this occupation came a resistance movement, led by Judah Maccabee, who successfully defeated the larger Seleucid army and reclaimed Jerusalem, and rededicated the Temple. They went to light the Menorah - the seven-branched candelabra - but could only find one day’s worth of oil to burn, so they sent a messenger out to find more. However, a miracle occurred, and the oil ended up burning for 8 days in total. From this the festival of Hanukkah was born, with the word deriving from Hebrew meaning “dedication”, remembering the dedication of the Temple from Seleucid rule. In remembrance of this history, Hanukkah lasts for eight days and eight nights. Each night, candles are lit on a menorah (or Hanukkiah), with one candle on the first day, two on the second, and so on until day eight. Often people say a prayer or blessing beforehand, and sing traditional songs after. 

Otherwise, during this time there is a focus on family and community, and often families will come together to celebrate the holiday, through having meals together, going to Synagogue on the Sabbath together, playing with a Dreidel (a four sided spinning top played for coins - often chocolate, sweets, nuts, or other prizes), and giving gifts, although depending on the family there may be different traditions for this time. The focus on celebrating family is directly tied to the Hanukkah story, whereby interacting with family reinforces shared culture, heritage, and traditions often in places where the majority of people aren’t Jewish.

Traditional foods during Hanukkah are often fried or deep fried, remembering how the oil lasted for eight days, with some favourite Hanukkah treats being Latkes (fried potato pancakes), and Doughnuts, although across the world there are many different local traditional treats, such as: fried plantains in Central America, cream cheese and ricotta cheesecake in Italy, fried eggplant in Spain, and mashed vegetable stew in the Netherlands. Yum! 

The gift-giving aspect only came around relatively recently in the 1920s in North America, when the more present gift-giving elements of Christmas began to affect how Jews around the world celebrated their wintertime holiday. Originally, cash gifts were given to children as a reward for good behaviour and studying the Torah - the Jewish holy book. But now, often both kids and adults give and receive gifts throughout the eight days.

At the end of the day, Hanukkah is a lot more than just a “Jewish Christmas”. Yes, it happens near the end of the year, often overlapping with Christmas due to how the Jewish calendar works, and yes there is a gift-giving element to it, but overall there’s so much more history and culture in the holiday than people would assume. The history of resilience and standing up for what’s right, and having support and faith in your family and G-d, all underline this holiday and its practices and how they differ across the world. So, this holiday season, don’t forget how people celebrate holidays, maybe different from yours, and underline this time with faith, goodwill, and acceptance for everyone in our school community. Hag Sameah everyone! Happy Holidays!

By Thomas McDonach