do u know about Hanukkah?

Question

tell me all you know about hanukkah (serius answers only plz) i need it for a school project... =)

thank you so much Melanie Mue! ill probably get an A! =)

Answer 1

Ok, first Chanukah history 101:
Chanukah (or Chanuka, or Hanuka- it's a Hebrew word, so there's no one right way to spell it in English) happened during the time of the Greek Empire. I'm not sure of the exact years, but you can probably find it on the web. It was a few hundred years after Alexander the Great.
Anyway, Israel was under Greek rule, and the current Emporer, Antiochus IV, was not really into religious tolerence. He forbade several key Jewish observances (circumcision, sabbath, Toarh study and sanctifying the new moon) and defiled the Holy Temple in Jerusalem.
After this had been going on for some time, a Temple priest named Mattisyahu started a revolt against the Greeks, along with his five sons. He died a year later, and his son Yehudah took over. The family was nicknamed the Maccabees, which is Hebrew for "Hammer". Yehuda Maccabee and his brothers launched a series of guerilla attacks against the Greek army, and miraculously recaptured Jerusalem after... lemme see... I think it was three years, but don't quote me on that.
The Jews cleaned out the Temple the best they could, and tried to start up services again. The problem was that a big part of the services involved keeping the Menorah (a huge candelabra) lit, and the Greeks had defiled all the oil. Making new oil would take eight days. Someone eventually found a small jar of pure oil, but it was only enough to last for one day. It lasted for eight days, after which they had made some more oil. The next year, the rabbis declared the day a new holiday.

Some customs and laws of Chanukah:
The Menorah in the Temple had seven braches, plus a "servant" candle (shamash) for lighting the other candles. The menorahs used for Chanukah have eight branches, plus a shamash. The shamash is set apart from the other candles, usually by being higher up.
One candles is added for each night of Chanukah. The candles are added from from right to left, and are lit from left to right. The candles are lit after sunset, and must burn for at least half an hour.
It is prohibited to use the Chanuka candles for anything, such as light or warmth (which is one reason for having the shamash there, so that you are technically using the shamash if you forget and read a book by candle-light or something).

There is a custom to eat oily foods, in memory of the miracle with the oil. In America, the treat of choice is the latka (potato pancake); in Israel, they eat fried donuts called sufganiyot.

There's also a custom of giving chocolate money, called gelt. (Gelt is Yiddish for money).

The game of dreidel comes from the Greek opression. Since study of Judaism was forbidden, men who wanted to learn would bring little spinning tops with them. When the Greek police would conduct a raid, they would hide their books and pretend to be gambling.
The dreidel has four sides, with a Hebrew letter one each one. The four letters are an acronym for Nes Gadol Hayah Shom (a Great Miracle Happened There). In Israel, where everything took place, the message reads Nes Gadol Hayah Po (a Great Miracle Happened Here). The rules for the letters are:
GIMEL- you take all the [gelt, poker chips, walnuts, priceless rubies, whatever] in the pile. Everyone else puts one in.
HAY- you take half
NUN- You don't take anything.
SHIN (or PEH in Israel)- you put some in.

The whole idea of giving presents has no basis in tradition; it comes purely from "Christmas envy". The same with a making a whole big deal out of Chanukah. It's actaully a pretty minor holiday.

Women have a special place in the Chanukah tradition, because they were very invovled. The two examples par excelence are Chana and Yehudit. Chana and her seven sons were martyred because the refused to give up their religion. Yehudit saved her city from a seige by pretending to surrender, getting the general drunk, and cutting off his head. There is a custom for women not to do any work while the candles are burning.

I can't think of anything else off the top of my head, but that's just the basics. If you want anything else, a good place to start would be Aish.com or Judaism.org. Good luck on your school project!

Answer 2

I know that your spelling is off your Hanukkah is supposed to be spelled Chaunakka.