What is Hanukkah all about?

To sum it up, it is like most jewish holidays. They tried to defeat us, we survived, now lets eat! In it a minor holiday celebrating a miracle in which one day of oil lasted for 8 days. It is extremely popular because it happen to fall at Christmas time. Not a religious holiday, but a fun one, mainly for the kids. Colors blue and silver. Food: potato pancakes and donuts (due to be cooked in OIL) It is on the same dates on the hebrew calender(moon based), which is always different from the christian calender (sun based). Tradition : light the menorah every night to symbol the miracle of the oil (menorahs used to be oil, not candles)

Go to; chabad.org All ure questions answered!

Hanukkah is the most widely celebrated American Jewish holiday, possibly because it is a fun, child-centered occasion. It is celebrated with excellent food, an exchange of gifts, and the lighting of beautiful menorahs (special Hanukkah candelabras) filled with brightly colored candles. Unlike some of the other Jewish holidays, which require intense spiritual reflection or elaborate preparation, it is easy to celebrate. Many Jewish holidays commemorate events invested with historical and religious meaning, and Hanukkah is no exception. Hanukkah means "rededication," and it commemorates the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem after its desecration by foreign forces. The celebration also reaffirms the continuing struggle to live by God's commandments and to lead Jewish lives. When all is said and done, perhaps the most important message of Hanukkah may be found in the name of the holiday itself: Dedication. When Jews have dedicated themselves, through faith and action, to the pursuit of high religious and human ideals, Judaism has been strong. That imperative, to strengthen our religion and our people, remains an important challenge at this season, in every generation. Hanukkah begins every year on the 25th of the Hebrew month of "Kislev." This year, the 25th of Kislev corresponds to the evening of December 21st, 2008. ^_^

Go to Wikipedia and look it up. Or go to our blog shadowstrainer.blogspot.com (this is not a link so just type it in, sorry!) In hebrew it's pronounced Chanukkah (like you're clearing ur throat, not like you're saying cheap, it's a different kind of Ch to avoid confusion sometimes I use Kh) people got lazy and just started using an H instead. In short, a bad Greek king named Antiochus of Epiphanes (try saying taht 10 times fast!) wanted the Jews to convert or die, he made them eat pork and some did and others died for their beliefes, a guy named Mattathias lead his town to the hills when he died his sun Judah took over. His nicknames was the Maccabee, or the Hammer. They fought all the kings men and soon took back their temple, they rededicated it and all was well! Hanukkah is the festival of rededication, not of lights. Jews give gifts becuase the American Jewish children wanted gifts like thier Christian friends got on Christmas. Happy Hanukkah! Sarah and Shadow

Hanukkah is the celebration of the lights Hanukkah and Chanukah is the sam just spelled different becuase im jewish the lights on the menorah we have a menorah lakes (lot-keys) which is a potatoe pankes basickly boys were beanies on their heads we go to the timple no its isnt always on the same dates Hanukkah (Hebrew: חנוכה‎, IPA: ['χanuka], alt. Chanukah), also known as the Festival of Lights, is an eight-day Jewish holiday commemorating the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabean Revolt of the 2nd century BCE. Hanukkah is observed for eight nights, starting on the 25th day of Kislev according to the Hebrew calendar, and may occur from late November to late December on the Gregorian calendar. The festival is observed by the kindling of the lights of a special candelabrum, the nine-branched Menorah or Hanukiah, one light on each night of the holiday, progressing to eight on the final night. An extra light called a shamash (Hebrew: "guard" or "servant") is also lit each night, and is given a distinct location, usually higher or lower than the others. The purpose of the extra light is to adhere to the prohibition, specified in the Talmud (Tracate Shabbat 21b–23a), against using the Hanukkah lights for anything other than publicizing and meditating on the Hanukkah story. (The shamash is used to light the other lights.) As such, if one were to read from the lights–something prohibited–then it's not clear whether the light one's reading from was from the Hanukkah lights or the shamash light. So the shamash acts as a safeguard from accidental transgression.[citation needed] Hanukkah", from the Hebrew word for "dedication" or "consecration", marks the re-dedication of the Temple in Jerusalem after its desecration by the forces of Antiochus IV and commemorates the "miracle of the container of oil". According to the Talmud, at the re-dedication following the victory of the Maccabees over the Seleucid Empire, there was only enough consecrated olive oil to fuel the eternal flame in the Temple for one day. Miraculously, the oil burned for eight days, which was the length of time it took to press, prepare and consecrate fresh olive oil. Hanukkah is also mentioned in the deuterocanonical books of 1 Maccabees and 2 Maccabees. 1 Maccabees states: "For eight days they celebrated the rededication of the altar. Then Judah and his brothers and the entire congregation of Israel decreed that the days of the rededication... should be observed... every year... for eight days. (1 Mac. 4:56–59)" According to 2 Maccabees, "the Jews celebrated joyfully for eight days as on the feast of Booths." The martyrdom of Hannah and her seven sons has also been linked to Hanukkah. According to the Talmudic story[1] and 2 Maccabees, a Jewish woman named Hannah and her seven sons were tortured and executed by Antiochus for refusing to worship an idol, which would have been a violation of Jewish law. Name The name "Hanukkah" is interpreted in many ways.[2] Some scholars say the word was derived from the Hebrew verb "חנך" meaning "to dedicate" or to "educate." On Hanukkah, Jews mark the rededication of the House of the Lord.[3] Others argue that the name can be broken down into "חנו", from the Hebrew word for encampment, and the Hebrew letters כ"ה, which stand for the 25th day of Kislev, the day on which the holiday begins: Hence, the Jews sat in their camp, that is, they rested fighting, on the 25th day of Kislev.[4] Hanukkah is also the Hebrew acronym for "ח' נרות והלכה כבית הלל" meaning "eight candles as determined by House of Hillel" This is a reference to the disagreement between two rabbinical schools of thought–Hillel and the House of Shammai–on the proper way to light Hanukkah candles. Shammai said that eight candles should be lit from the start, and reduced by one candle every night, whereas Hillel argued in favor of starting with one candle and lighting an additional one every night. Jewish law adopted the position of Hillel. Historical sources Mishna See also: Mishna Omissions The story of Hanukkah, along with its laws and customs, is entirely missing from the Mishna outside of a single passing reference.[5] Rav Nissim Gaon postulates in his Hakdamah Le'mafteach Hatalmud that information on the holiday is commonplace to the point that Rabbinical explanation is unnecessary. Reuvain Margolies suggests that as the Mishnah was redacted after the Bar Kochba revolt, authors could not have included discussion of Hanukkah as the Roman occupiers would not have tolerated the overt nationalism inherent in the story. In the Talmud The miracle of Hanukkah is described in the Talmud. The Gemara, in tractate Shabbat 2 focuses on Shabbat candles and moves to Hanukkah candles and says that after the forces of Antiochus IV had been driven from the Temple, the Maccabees discovered that almost all of the ritual olive oil had been profaned. They found only a single container that wa

A bunch of jew bags

hannakah is like the celebration of the lites because they lit a candle in a temple with only enough oil for one day and it stayed lit for 12 ( and no im not jewish)

They just burn a candle with 12 lights. The kids play with a dradle, it's basically a spinning top. They also exchange gifts. I'll keep Christmas.