Hanukkah

see: http://ohr.edu/yhiy.php/holidays/chanukah/

for many more Jewish Questions and answers see: http://www.chabad.org/474309

A story in the Talmud (500 years after the Maccabean War) tells of a legendary miracle. After the war, When the Jews returned to rededicate the Ancient Temple, they found that there was only enough oil to keep the eternal lamp burning for 1 day. It would take 8 days to make more of this special oil. So the lit the lamp, and it miraculously burned for 8 days, giving them plenty of time to make more oil to keep the lamp burning.

because of the special oil, foods are cooked in oil.

There are about 1.5 billion Christians in the world who celebrate Christmas.

But there are only about 14 million Jews in the world, most of which celebrate Hanukkah.

Clearly, Christmas is more popular.

Candles are lit each evening, one on the first evening, two on the second, three on the third (etc.), in a special eight branched candlestick called a "menorah" or a "chanukiah." The candle-lighting symbolizes the miracle when a small amount of oil was found in the Temple, just enough to light a lamp for one day, but it lit the lamp for eight days. It is also customary to eat foods fried in oil on Hanukkah, such as latkes (potato pancakes) and doughnuts. Nowadays many people also give presents, although there is no religious basis to that (except for the "gelt coins given to children, which is an established custom).

Working is not forbidden during Hanukkah, though there is a custom to avoid work during the first half-hour after lighting the candles.

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.

The candles (plural) are the Hanukkah-candles, lit to commemorate the miracles:

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."

Since the earliest of times, trees, especially green evergreens, were worshipped by the pagans. To them it represented life and freshness. Since it was EVER green, it always had life. The trees were worshipped as symbols of life, fertility, sexual potency and reproduction. These pagan rituals of worship were then brought into the homes and set up as idols, with the belief that it would give men a heightened potency of sexual virility to procreate new life for their harvest god in the new year. The evergreen tree represented a "PHALLIC" symbol (the mans sexual organ of reproduction) set in an upright position.. When the Church appropriated pagan symbols, traditions and dates to have people worship God, they used the Winter Solstice time of year to impose the celebration of Christ's birth, or Christmas. The tree was brought into homes and decorated in Europe in the 17th century, and Europeans brought it to North America. The Bible does not tell us to celebrate Christmas.

Menorot (plural of Menorah) can come in any shape. They are 7 branched candle holders, and often the branches for a half circle.
If you are talking about a Hanukkah Menorah (Hanukkiyah), they can also come in many different shapes and sizes.

The Chanukah menora - or chanukiyah - is lit every night over eight nights of Chanukah.

First, set up your oil wicks/candles: Start with one on the first night, two on the second, etc. Plus, each night there is an extra candle called the 'shamash' that serves as the service candle; it's this candle you actually light with the match and use to light the others.

There are 3 blessings to say before you do the actual lighting. One is said only on the first night - that is the 'she-hechiyanu' blessing. The other two are said every night.

Once the blessings have been said (or sung) there are a few Chanukah songs you can choose to sing. It's good to be festive and hang around the candles while they are burning.

Tip: The holiday is celebrating the miracle of the Temple's oil lasting for eight days, and in actuality, it is better to use an oil menora/chanukiyah than candles. But candles are fine too, according to Jewish law.

About three years, until 165 BCE. Note that the war continued after that as well (for over two decades). The events of 165 BCE are what we celebrate because it was then that the Temple was rededicated and the miracle of the oil occurred.

At sunset on the first night of Hanukkah (and on all the other nights, as well) you light the Hanukkah candles and say the blessing for the candles. (On the first night only, you also say the "Shehechianu" blessing.) Then you play the dreidel game as long as the candles are burning.

The traditional foods are things fried in oil; latkes (potato pancakes, which are excellent with a little butter and applesauce), or fried chicken, and for a treat, jelly donuts.

In addition to the usual, every-night "Ma'ariv" service . . .

1) The blessings for the candle-lighting are said immediately before

lighting the candles.

2) The Hanerot Hallalu prayer is said during the candle-lighting.

3) Many people customarily sing Maoz Tzur.

Outside of Israel:

Jewish holidays are not national holidays, but some businesses and schools will allow Jewish people to take the day off.

In Israel:

Generally, Torah holidays (Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Passover, Shavuot, Sukkot) are national public holidays in Israel, with banks and schools (and many businesses) closed.

Exceptions/departures:

-- Independence Day and Jerusalem Day, are not religious occasions but are national holidays in Israel. Businesses and schools are open on Jerusalem Day, and are closed on Independence Day. Some synagogues add a special prayer on Independence Day.

-- Purim is a religious occasion but is not written in the Torah itself. In Israel, there are public festivities everywhere, and schools are closed. Banks have a half-day, and businesses typically have paid leave.

-- The festival of Hanukkah is a religious and festive occasion not written in the Torah itself, and is not a national holiday. Many businesses close early (around 3-4 p.m.).

-- The Sabbath (every Saturday) is a day of rest on which most businesses in Israel, and banks, are closed.

-- Rosh Chodesh (new month) is a Torah-occasion but not a day of rest or a holiday. Businesses and schools are open.

-- Note: The five days of the normal work/business/office week in Israel

are Sunday through Thursday. Friday and Saturday are the 'week end',

corresponding to the Muslim and Jewish sabbaths. Many businesses, and schools, have a half-day on Friday.

Hannukah is a holiday with no specific food prohibitions. The one requisite is that in order to celebrate the oil that lasted for eight days, foods should be oilier (which is where latkes (potato pancakes) and sufganyot (jelly doughnuts) come from.) There is no specific food that Jews eat for breakfast on Hannukah and most Jews eat the same things for breakfast on Hannukah that they do during the rest of the year (i.e. cereal, oatmeal, fruit, eggs, french toast, etc.)

Yes you do light candles and say two blessings. These blessings are:

1. Baruch atah adonai eloheinu melech haolam asher kidhashanu bemitzvotav vitzivanuh lehad leek ner Shel (insert Shabbat veshel if it is on Shabbat) Yom Kippurim.

2. Baruch Atah Adonai eloheinu melech haolam, vehichejanu, veki-jemanu, laz man hazeh.

I hope that helps. It is hard for me to write the pronunciation in English but I tried.

Drive slowly enough so you can stop within the area lighted your headlights

There is no such thing as "Hanukkah Day". Hanukkah lasts for 8 days and 8 nights.

During Hanukkah parties, held throughout the festival, all types of party games are played.

The only traditional game is the dreidel game, which is a gambling game that uses a 4-sided top.