The original menorah was of gold and stood in the Jewish Temple, as commanded in Exodus ch.25. It burned olive oil.

For the last 2200 years, another type of menorah is the ones that are lit during Hanukkah.

For most Jews, the centerpiece of Hanukkah is the Hanukkah-menorah, a nine-branched candelabrum, also sometimes called a Hanukkiah. As you look at a menorah, you will notice that one candle is set at a different level from the other eight. That one is called the Shammash, or helper candle. Jewish law states that the regular candles are for viewing and spreading the word of the miracle only, so the Shammash is used to light the others, and for any other purpose, such as for light to read by.

The menorah itself may be made in almost any manner - glass, aluminum or other metals. Menorahs may be sleek and contemporary, or flowery and ornate, and may incorporate decorations such as the Tree of Life.

The menorah should be placed in a manner that is as visible as possible to the public, to publicize the miracle of Hanukkah. Depending on custom, some families light the menorah in a doorway, or a window, or some other place that is highly visible.

It was written by Samuel S. Grossman, who also wrote the original Yiddish lyrics. In Yiddish, the dreidel is made out of lead).

it depends on the time of day and time of year. if it's night time you would light the lamp, if you were cold you would light the heater. If you were quick enough you could use the match to light the lamp and the heater at the same time.

The answer to this very basic question is this ----- you would first light the match !!!

This is an old joke. The answer is "Neither--All candles burn shorter." I'm locking this and moving it to the joke/riddle section. === the long thin pink one. ~Not necessarily, it depends on what type of wax is used, the thickness of the wick, and the amount of wind the candle is exposed to. The green square candle will out burn the other two. The long pink candle will burn the fastest. The green square candle. If you think about it, it all depends on the height of the green square candle, exactly how thin the long thin pink candle is, the length of the long thin pink candle, how fat the short fat red candle is, how square the green square candle is, and the time of the year. It also depends on the stuff that the person who put a ~ before their answer said.

Latkes are made from potatoes. They are basically potato pancakes.

During each of the 8 days of Hanukkah the same thing happens: Jews light the menorah after sunset; on the first day one candle and each day adding another until on the eighth evening they light 8 candles. An additional candle is lit nearby and is used to kindle the candles of the menorah..

The Syrian-Greeks (Seleucids), at the instigation of their Hellenizing (assimilated) Jewish lackeys, attempted to forcibly assimilate all of the Jews into Greek culture and separate them from their Torah-practices.

Many rabbis have tried to find a historical connection between the dreidel and the Hanukkah story.

One 19th century rabbi proposed that in Ancient times, Jews played with the dreidel in order to fool the Greeks if they were caught studying Torah, which had been outlawed.

The standard explanation is that the letters nun, gimmel, hey, shin, which appear on the dreidel in the Diaspora, stand for nes gadol haya sham--"a great miracle happened there,"while in Israel the dreidel says nun, gimmel, hey, pey, which means "a great miracle happened here."

Christmas and Hanukkah are not the same holiday. Christmas is the Christian celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. Hanukkah is a Jewish holiday. Hanukkah is the Festival of Dedication that celebrates the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem.

Fasting is prohibited during Hanukkah (Talmud, Rosh Hashanah 18b).

You light 2 on the first night. Then each night, you add another candle, ending with 9 on the eighth night.

Hanukkah is celebrated in almost the same way all over the world, but in the U.S. and Canada, gift giving is more popular than it is in Europe and other places outside North America.

We light the Hanukkah-menorah, sing the traditional blessings and songs, have potato pancakes and play with the dreidel. There are also prayers added to the regular daily services.

It's actually candles. There are eight candles and they are usually white. The Menorah is what holds the candles in place for Hanukkah. there are no specific candles. The Menorah is usually gold and is shaped like an upside down rainbow w/ 4 lines making up the rainbow. On each end of the curved line there is a candle holder for each candle.

Some families exchange presents, and some do not. Gift giving is most common among American and Canadian Jews, but it's a custom that only started a few decades ago due to influence from Christmas.

If gifts are exchanged, they are usually given each night during the 8 nights of the holiday. There is no rule about how many presents are given each night, but it is often 1 per night.

The only traditional gift during Hanukkah is the gelt (coins) given to children.

Gift giving on Hanukkah is a modern, non-Orthodox practice. It's only a few decades old at most, and has obviously been influenced by the pervasive mercantile pressure in the surrounding world at large. There are no customs associated with it, and no traditions that would favor certain gifts over others, for those who do give them.

The only traditional gift in Hanukkah is the gelt (coins ) given to one's children.

First of all, latkes: potato pancakes fried in oil. In Israel, jelly donuts are popular.

Secondly, there is also a custom to have dairy foods.

Christmas is a Christian holiday that celebrates the birth of Jesus and lasts for 1 day.

Hanukkah is an 8 day Jewish holiday that celebrates a military victory against invaders who attempted to force our assimilation to paganism. It also celebrates the rededication of our Temple after those invaders were defeated.

There is no tradition of gift giving during Hanukkah although a large percentage of North American Jews do give gifts of some sort these days.

Special foods include potato pancakes (latkes) and jelly donuts (sufganiyot). Also, any foods fried in oil are traditional.
However, unlike the Sabbath, there aren't any complete festive meals in Hanukkah.