Hanukkah

Hanukkah, which is the Hebrew word for “dedication”, is the annual celebration of the dedication of the Temple. At this festival the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem in 164 BC is celebrated. It is also known as the “Festival of Lights”.

Hanukkah starts on the 25th day of the month Kislev (November/December) and lasts for eight days.

The festival commemorates the events described in 1 and 2 Maccabees. In the second century BC, Antiochus IV Epiphanes was the king of Syria. Judea also fell under his domain. He had desecrated the Temple in Jerusalem by placing idols in it, which led to the Jewish people revolting against him. In 164 BC he was defeated and the Temple service was reinstated.

According to tradition, the discovery of a jug of oil played an important part at the rededication of the Temple. When the Temple had to be cleansed, they needed to relight the lamp in the Temple sanctuary (see Exodus 27:20-21). However, they could only find a little bit of pure oil, enough for one day. Miraculously, the lamp continued to shine for eight days, which was long enough for the rededication ceremony. This miracle is still remembered by lighting a special lamp.

After the destruction of the second Temple by the Romans in AD 70, the Jewish people continued to celebrate Hanukkah as the Festival of Lights. Both at home and in the synagogue, the “attendant” light on the menorah is lit. This menorah looks like the seven-armed candle stick in the Temple, but has eight arms. Sometimes the lamp has a ninth arm, which is used to light the other eight candles. 
Children play with a spinning top in which the first letters of the Hebrew words “a great miracle happened there” are inscribed. They also receive presents. 
To remember the miracle with the oil, people eat jelly doughnuts (supganiyot in Hebrew) and potato pancakes fried in oil (latkes in Hebrew).