The same as today, with the possible exception of the dreidel-game.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:
Hanukkah is older. Hanukkah celebrates an event that took place in 165 BCE. Christmas celebrates an event that took place in 4 BCE.
Hanukkah is celebrated by Jews to commemorate the miracle 2170 years ago in which the oil in the candelabrum of the Holy Temple burned for much longer than was physically possible.
Hanukkah happened first. Assuming Jesus was born in 4 BC, the Hanukkah miracle occurred 161 years before he was born. Hanukkah is mentioned in the Talmud (Shabbat 21b). The eight-day rededication of the Temple is also mentioned in the book of Maccabees (I, 4:36; and II, 1:18); and Josephus mentions the eight-day festival in Antiquities ch.12.
The events of Hanukkah occurred some 150 years before his time.
The Hanukkah-miracle happened after three years of fighting, but the battles continued on and off for an additional 25 years.
The same reason you would give out other holiday cards. It is done to celebrate the joyous holiday and remember the miracle that occurred so many years ago. It is a way to say hello to friends and family and remind them how lucky we are to have one another.
Hanukkah is an 8-day holiday, so if you are asking how many time one of the 8 days has occurred on December 21 during the last 2200 years, it's probably around 1500 times. If you're asking how many times the first day of Hanukkah occurred on December 21, it's about 200 times in the last 2200 years.
Hanukkah commemorates a war between the Jews and the Syrian-Greeks. This war (which took place about 2200 years ago) doesn't necessarily have any meaning to Gentiles. It also marks the miracle of the oil, which took place in the Jewish Temple.
Hanukkah was founded 2180 years ago. The word "Hanukkah" is taken from Numbers ch.7 (in the original Hebrew). In that context, and in the context of our celebration of Hanukkah also, the word means "dedication" or "initiation" into the service of God.
No. The holiday of Hanukkah commemorates an even that happened about 2200 years ago. "Caveman" days were more than 25,000 years ago.
Hanukkah begins in December or late November, and lasts eight days. It was first instituted 2175 years ago.For more about Hanukkah:http://judaism.answers.com/jewish-holidays/hanukkah
It isn't in the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible). It was instituted about 175 years after the canon was sealed. The story of Hanukkah can be found in the Apocrypha (also called the Deuterocanon) in the books of Maccabees I & II, but as mentioned above, these books are not in the Tanakh or Jewish Bible.