What activities take place over Hanukkah?

Answer 1

Chanuka celebrate the Jewish victory over Greek occupation and oppression in the year 165 BCE. To celebrate this victory we light candles for 8 days and say certain Thanksgiving prayers. Some games and food have become associated with Chanukah.

Answer:On Hanukkah, prayers are said and the menorah is lit to remember the miracle of the oil (Talmud, Shabbat 21b), which occurred during the Hasmonean victory over the Syrian-Greeks; and we also thank God for His having helped us to oust the Syrian-Greeks (Seleucids) and their lackeys, the Hellenizing Jews. The Seleucids, at the instigation of the Hellenizers, had forbidden various Torah-practices, such as Sabbath-observance, and pressed the Jews to offer up idolatrous sacrifices. The Hasmoneans (a religious Jewish family) fought to retake the Holy Temple, which had been seized by the Seleucids, and to enable the people to once again observe the Torah. When they reached the Temple grounds, they found only one day's supply of unsullied olive oil, but the oil lamps miraculously burned for eight days (ibid.), allowing enough time for new oil to be prepared and brought.

The significance of the miracle is that it demonstrated that God's presence still dwelt in the Holy Temple.

The Al-Hanisim prayer recited during Hanukkah centers around the Hasmoneans' victory, while the candle-lighting commemorates the miracle of the oil.

Though the military victory is prominently mentioned in the prayers, it wouldn't have been celebrated if not for the miracle of the oil, just as we have no special occasion to mark Abraham's victory (Genesis ch.14), or those of Moses (Numbers ch.21), Joshua, Deborah (Judges ch.4), Gideon (Judges ch.6-7), Jephthah (Judges ch.11), or King David. And though the Hasmonean battles continued for two decades after the retaking of the Temple, the Sages instituted Hanukkah immediately after the miracle of the oil.

It should also be noted that the main goal for which the Maccabees fought was not political independence. They fought to enable the people to observe the Torah's commandments; as we say in the Al Hanisim prayer: "the Greeks sought to cause us to forget Your Torah and leave Your statutes."

Read all about Chanukah on hanukkah

Answer 2

Hanukkah lasts eight days, and is celebrated:

Hanukkah is celebrated as follows:
1) People light their menorah with olive oil or candles, every night at or after sundown with the customary blessings and songs, adding one candle for every day until on the 8th evening 8 candles are lit. In Israel, many people light their menorahs outside.

2) Special Hanukkah additions are added to the prayer services:

• a) Al-hanisim ("regarding the miracles") in grace after meals and in the thrice daily prayers
  
• b) Hallel - the thanksgiving psalms during morning prayers
  
• c) Each day there is a special Torah reading
  

3) A popular Hanukkah game is the "dreidel" game - a four sided top with Hebrew letters, which the children spin for coins or chocolate coins.
4) Dairy products are customary.
5) Foods prepared with oil: Latkes (pancakes), or Sufganiyot (jelly donuts).
6) Giving out Hanukkah money (gelt) to children is an ancient custom. Other gift-giving is non-traditional.See also:

How did Hanukkah start

Answer 3

Hanukkah is celebrated as follows:

1) People light their menorah with olive oil or candles, every night at or after sundown with the customary blessings and songs, adding one candle for every day until on the 8th evening 8 candles are lit. In Israel, many people light their menorahs outside.

2) Special Hanukkah additions are added to the prayer services:

• a) Al-hanisim ("regarding the miracles") in grace after meals and in the thrice daily prayers
  
• b) Hallel - the thanksgiving psalms during morning prayers
  
• c) Each day there is a special Torah reading
  

3) A popular Hanukkah game is the "dreidel" game - a four sided top with Hebrew letters, which the children spin for coins or chocolate coins.
4) Dairy products are customary.
5) Foods prepared with oil: Latkes (pancakes), or Sufganiyot (jelly donuts).
6) Giving out Hanukkah money (gelt) to children is an ancient custom. Other gift-giving is non-traditional.See also:

How did Hanukkah start

Answer 4

Lighting the menorah

Saying the relevant prayers and blessings

Eating the traditional (fried) foods

Answer 5

Hanukkah is a relatively minor Jewish festival -- there are some added paragraphs in the daily prayers, an there is an evening tradition of lighting candles in a menorah or hanukkiah, a 9-branched candlestick. One of the candles is used to light the others. The 8 candles signify the 8 days of Hanukkah, one of the 8 is lit on the first night, two on the second night, etc. There is also the tradition of eating food cooked in oil, fried potato pancakes, jelly donuts, etc., all to remember the miracle of the oil 2150 years ago. Finally, there is the tradition of giving small gifts of money (or chocolate coins) to children so that the children can gamble using a spinning top called a dreidel (the Latin name for the top is a teetotum). As Christmas drifted from a religious holiday into a secular gift-giving event, mostly post Charles Dickens, gift giving has also become common in Jewish families.