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Hanukkah

Hanukkah[a] (/ˈhɑːnəkə/; חֲנֻכָּהḤănukkā ) is a Jewish festival commemorating the recovery of Jerusalem and subsequent rededication of the Second Temple at the beginning of the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire in the 2nd century BCE.[3][4]

For other uses, see Hanukkah (disambiguation).

Hanukkah

חֲנֻכָּה‎ or חֲנוּכָּה
English translation: 'Establishing' or 'Dedication' (of the Temple in Jerusalem)

Jewish

The Maccabees successfully revolted against Antiochus IV Epiphanes. According to the Talmud, the Temple was purified and the wicks of the menorah miraculously burned for eight days, even though there was only enough sacred oil for one day's lighting.

Lighting candles each night. Singing special songs, such as Ma'oz Tzur. Reciting the Hallel prayer. Eating food fried in oil, such as latkes and sufganiyot, and dairy foods. Playing the dreidel game, and giving Hanukkah gelt

25 Kislev

2 Tevet or 3 Tevet

25 Kislev, 26 Kislev, 27 Kislev, 28 Kislev, 29 Kislev, 30 Kislev, 1 Tevet, 2 Tevet, 3 Tevet

Sunset, 7 December –
nightfall, 15 December[1]

Sunset, 25 December –
nightfall, 2 January[1]

Sunset, 14 December –
nightfall, 22 December[1]

Sunset, 4 December –
nightfall, 12 December[1]

Purim, as a rabbinically decreed holiday.

Hanukkah is observed for eight nights and days,[5] starting on the 25th day of Kislev according to the Hebrew calendar, which may occur at any time from late November to late December in the Gregorian calendar. The festival is observed by lighting the candles of a candelabrum with nine branches, commonly called a menorah or hanukkiah. One branch is typically placed above or below the others and its candle is used to light the other eight candles. This unique candle is called the shammash (שַׁמָּשׁ‎, "attendant"). Each night, one additional candle is lit by the shammash until all eight candles are lit together on the final night of the festival.[6]


Other Hanukkah festivities include singing Hanukkah songs, playing the game of dreidel and eating oil-based foods, such as latkes and sufganiyot, and dairy foods. Since the 1970s, the worldwide Chabad Hasidic movement has initiated public menorah lightings in open public places in many countries.[7]


Originally instituted as a feast "in the manner of Sukkot (Booths)", it does not come with the corresponding obligations, and is therefore a relatively minor holiday in strictly religious terms. Nevertheless, Hanukkah has attained major cultural significance in North America and elsewhere, especially among secular Jews, due to often occurring around the same time as Christmas during the festive season.[8]

The name can be broken down into חנו כ״ה‎, "[they] rested [on the] twenty-fifth", referring to the fact that the Jews ceased fighting on the 25th day of , the day on which the holiday begins.[12]

Kislev

חינוך, from the same root, is the name for Jewish education, emphasizing ethical training and discipline.

Chinuch

חנוכה‎ (Hanukkah) is also the Hebrew for ח נרות והלכה כבית הלל‎ – "Eight candles, and the halakha is according to the House of Hillel". This is a reference to the disagreement between two rabbinical schools of thought – the House of Hillel and the House of Shammai – on the proper order in which to light the Hanukkah flames. Shammai opined that eight candles should be lit on the first night, seven on the second night, and so on down to one on the last night (because the miracle was greatest on the first day). Hillel argued in favor of starting with one candle and lighting an additional one every night, up to eight on the eighth night (because the miracle grew in greatness each day). Jewish law adopted the position of Hillel.[13]

acronym

is called שיר חנכת הבית‎, the "Song of Ḥănukkāt HaBayit", The Song of the "Dedication" of the House", and is traditionally recited on Hanukkah. 25 (of Kislev) + 5 (Books of Torah) = 30, which is the number of the song.

Psalm 30

Historical sources[edit]

Books of Maccabees[edit]

The story of Hanukkah is told in the books of the First and Second Maccabees, which describe in detail the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem and the lighting of the menorah. These books, however, are not a part of the canonized Masoretic Text version of the Tanakh (Hebrew and Aramaic language Jewish Bible) used and accepted by normative Rabbinical Judaism and therefore modern Jews (as copied, edited and distributed by a group of Jews known as the Masoretes between the 7th and 10th centuries of the Common Era). However, the books of Maccabees were included among the deuterocanonical books added to the Septuagint, a Jewish scholarly Greek-language translation of the Hebrew Bible originally compiled in the mid-3rd century BCE. The Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches consider the books of Maccabees as a canonical part of the Old Testament.[23]


The eight-day rededication of the temple is described in 1 Maccabees,[24] though the miracle of the oil does not appear here. A story similar in character, and older in date, is the one alluded to in 2 Maccabees[25] according to which the relighting of the altar fire by Nehemiah was due to a miracle which occurred on the 25th of Kislev, and which appears to be given as the reason for the selection of the same date for the rededication of the altar by Judah Maccabee.[26] The above account in 1 Maccabees, as well as 2 Maccabees[27] portrays the feast as a delayed observation of the eight-day Feast of Booths (Sukkot); similarly 2 Maccabees explains the length of the feast as "in the manner of the Feast of Booths".[28]

198 BCE: Armies of the Seleucid King (Antiochus the Great) oust Ptolemy V from Judea and Samaria.[44]

Antiochus III

175 BCE: (Epiphanes) ascends the Seleucid throne.[67]

Antiochus IV

168 BCE: Under the reign of Antiochus IV, the is looted, Jews are massacred, and Judaism is outlawed.[68]

second Temple

167 BCE: Antiochus orders an altar to erected in the Temple. Mattathias and his five sons John, Simon, Eleazar, Jonathan, and Judah lead a rebellion against Antiochus. Judah becomes known as Judah Maccabee ("Judah the Hammer").

Zeus

166 BCE: Mattathias dies, and Judah takes his place as leader. The begins; It lasts until 63 BCE.

Hasmonean Jewish Kingdom

164 BCE: The Jewish revolt against the monarchy is successful in recapturing the Temple, which is liberated and rededicated (Hanukkah).

Seleucid

142 BCE: Re-establishment of the . The Seleucids recognize Jewish autonomy. The Seleucid kings have a formal overlordship, which the Hasmoneans acknowledge. This inaugurates a period of population growth and religious, cultural and social development. This includes the conquest of the areas now covered by Transjordan, Samaria, Galilee, and Idumea (also known as Edom), and the forced conversion of Idumeans to the Jewish religion, including circumcision.[69]

Second Jewish Commonwealth

139 BCE: The recognizes Jewish autonomy.[70]

Roman Senate

134 BCE: besieges Jerusalem. The Jews under John Hyrcanus become Seleucid vassals but retain religious autonomy.[71]

Antiochus VII Sidetes

129 BCE: Antiochus VII dies. The Hasmonean Jewish Kingdom throws off Syrian rule completely.

[72]

96 BCE: Beginning of an eight-year civil war between king Alexander Yanai and the Pharisees.[73]

Sadducee

85–82 BCE: Consolidation of the Kingdom in territory east of the .[74]

Jordan River

63 BCE: The Hasmonean Jewish Kingdom comes to an end because of a rivalry between the brothers and Hyrcanus II, both of whom appeal to the Roman Republic to intervene and settle the power struggle on their behalf. The Roman general Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (Pompey the Great) is dispatched to the area. Twelve thousand Jews are massacred in the Roman Siege of Jerusalem. The Priests of the Temple are struck down at the Altar. Rome annexes Judea.[75]

Aristobulus II

Miracle of the cruse of oil

Jewish greetings

Jewish holidays

Ashton, Dianne (2013). . New York: New York University Press. ISBN 978-0-8147-0739-5.

Hanukkah in America: A History

Conforti, Yitzhak (2012). . Studies in Ethnicity and Nationalism. 12 (1). Wiley: 155–171. doi:10.1111/j.1754-9469.2012.01155.x. ISSN 1473-8481.

"Zionist Awareness of the Jewish Past: Inventing Tradition or Renewing the Ethnic Past?"

Zion, N.; Spectre, B. (2000). . Devora Pub. ISBN 978-1-930143-37-1. Retrieved 17 September 2023.

A Different Light: A Pluralist Anthology : the Big Book of Hanukkah

Hanukah – Story and Art Activities.

Archived 12 February 2017 at the Wayback Machine at About.com

Hanukkah

at the History channel

Hanukkah

at the Jewish Encyclopedia

Hanukkah

Archived 27 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine at the Jewish Agency for Israel

Hanukkah

at Chabad.org

Hanukkah

at Aish HaTorah

Hanukkah

at Curlie

Hanukkah