Hanukkah

Yes - the eight days are consecutive, each day beginning and ending at nightfall.

Hanukkah always starts on the Hebrew calendar date of 25 Kislev, and lasts for eight days. The Hebrew calendar does not line up with the western calendar because it has a completely different leap year system that can shift holidays each year by to 11-28 days.

Here are the coinciding secular dates for the upcoming years. The candle lightings begin on the evening BEFORE the first date:

2011: December 20-28

2012: December 8-16

2013: November 27-December 5

2014: December 16-24

2015: December 6-14

It is called the Shamash

Hanukkah always starts on the Hebrew calendar date of 25 Kislev, and lasts for eight days. The Hebrew calendar does not line up with the western calendar because it has a completely different leap year system that can shift holidays each year by to 11-28 days.

Here are the coinciding secular dates for the upcoming years. The candle lightings begin on the evening BEFORE the first date:

2011: December 20-28

2012: December 8-16

2013: November 27-December 5

2014: December 16-24

2015: December 6-14

Yes you do, using a tool called a Menorah.

Each night of Hannukah, you add another candle to the Menorah, lighting them in succession with the Shamash, which sits in the middle once you're done lighting the candles and saying the prayers.

Electric menorahs are considered decoration and can be lit with any number of candles at any given time; unless this is your main menorah, in which case it should be lit during Hanukkah, with the blessings, at or after sundown.

There is no city that is called the city of lights during Hanukkah.

Paris is called the city of lights, but that has nothing to do with Hanukkah.

Hanukkah started in 164 BCE.

On Hanukkah, the chief celebration is for 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 pure 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.

Thousands, there is a extremley small chance that you have the same kind of Menorah as someone else.

Yes, most of them do. Hanukkah is a religious holiday with special prayers and Torah-readings, but most non-religious Jews celebrate Hanukkah too.

• Hanukkah is a minor Jewish holiday that commemorates the victory of the Jews against the Syrian-Greeks in the Maccabean War of 165 BCE.
• Passover is a major Jewish holiday that commemorates the Exodus from Egypt.
• Yom Kippur is the holiest annual Jewish holiday. It is the day of atonement.

Hanukkah. However, the chief reason for the celebration is to commemorate the miracle of the oil, not (merely) the military victory.

Background:

The Seleucids (Syrian-Greeks) under Antiochus Epiphanes (2nd century BCE), at the instigation of the Hellenizers, had forbidden various Torah-practices such as Sabbath-observance and circumcision, rededicated the Temple to a Greek idol, and pressed the Jews to offer up sacrifices to the idol. One of the leading elder Jewish sages called upon the people to keep observing the Torah anyway; and if necessary, to use force in resisting the decrees. When a Hellenized Jew offered a sacrifice to the Greek idols in a nearby village, the sage killed him as well as the Greek overseer. This brought a violent reaction from the Greeks; and the loyal Jews, led by the Hasmonean family, were forced to retreat from their towns and strike out at the Greeks in an attempt to oust them from the Holy Land and to enable the people to once again observe the Torah. The Torah-Jews were heavily outnumbered by the attacking Greek armies, but God gave them miraculous victories again and again. After three years of struggle, the Greek armies retreated from Jerusalem, and the Hasmoneans (also called Maccabees) entered the Holy Temple which the Greeks had defiled, reconsecrated it to God, and began the Temple service once more. Among other things, they wanted to relight the olive oil candelabrum (Exodus ch. 25), but could only find one day's supply of undefiled oil - and it would take eight days to make and bring some more.

Miraculously, the menorah stayed lit for eight days (Talmud, Shabbat 21b), allowing enough time for new oil to be prepared and brought. The significance of the miracle is that it demonstrated that God's presence was still there. The Torah-community was overjoyed, because God's presence meant everything to them.

This is what Hanukkah represents: the closeness to God; and the avoidance of Hellenization (assimilation).

The Torah Sages instituted the festival of Hanukkah at that time (Talmud, Shabbat 21b), to publicize the miracle (Rashi commentary, ibid). This is why we light our Hanukkah-menorahs.

(The Hanukkah-menorah, or hanukkiyah, is a special form of the original seven-branched menorah. Our Hanukkah-menorahs have eight spaces for oil, or candles, to mark each of the eight days for which the oil lasted and a ninth to hold the shamash, a candle used to light the others.)

The Al-Hanisim prayer which we recite during Hanukkah centers around the Hasmoneans' victory and rededication of the Temple, 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. 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."

Chanukah (also spelled Hanukkah) is a Jewish festival celebrated for 8 days. It is also called the Festival of Lights. This year Chanukah is celebrated from December 8th - December 16th 2012. There is a candle holder with 9 stems called a Menorah. One stem in the middle sits higher or lower than the rest. It is called Samash and it provides light for lighting the other candles. Each night for eight nights one candles is lit.

Eight, just like everywhere else.

They have no name. Only the helper candle (used to light the other 8 candles) has a name. It's called the Shamash.

"Sing We of Hanukkah" is a traditional song. It's not recorded by any celebrity.

Vincent van Gogh was not Jewish. He celebrated Christmas.

Exodus ch.25.

Hanukkah starts on the Hebrew calendar date of 25 Kislev, and lasts for eight days. The Hebrew calendar does not line up with the western calendar because it has a completely different leap year system that can shift holidays each year by to 11-28 days.

Here are the coinciding secular dates for the upcoming years. The candle lightings begin on the evening BEFORE the first date:

2011: December 20-28

2012: December 8-16

2013: November 27-December 5

2014: December 16-24

2015: December 6-14

Hanukkah gifts can be anything.

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

Antiochus.

Its Gregorian dates are determined by the cycles of the Hebrew calendar, in which Hanukkah always starts on the 25th of kislev.

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G C C D D E C E G G F E D F D D E E F D E G F E D C E G E G E G E E G G F E D D F F D F D D G F E D C And it is the same for the next two veruses

Hanukkah is celebrated by Jews in all 50 states, and all over the world.