What is Hanukkah??

Answer 1

Hanukkah


Hanukkah is the annual Jewish festival celebrated on eight successive days beginning on the 25th day of Kislev, the third month of the Jewish calendar, corresponding, approximately, to December in the Gregorian calendar. It is also known as the Festival of Lights, Feast of Dedication, and Feast of the Maccabees, Hanukkah commemorates the rededication of the Temple of Jerusalem by Judas Maccabee in 165 BC after the Temple had been profaned by Antiochus IV Epiphanes, king of Syria and overlord of Palestine.

http://www.history.com/minisites/hanukkah/viewPage?pageId=730

Answer 2

Hanukkah began this year on the evening of Friday, December 15, 2006.

Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights, is one of the most joyous times of the Jewish year. The reason for the celebration is twofold (both dating back to c. 165 BCE): the miraculous military victory of the small, ill-equipped Jewish army over the ruling Greek Syrians, who had banned the Jewish religion and desecrated the Temple; and the miracle of the small cruse of consecrated oil, which burned for eight days in the Temple's menorah instead of just one.

Hanukkah is celebrated by:

lighting a menorah for eight nights with olive oil or wax candles; one on the first night and an additional one each succeeding night
eating food fried in oil, especially potato pancakes (latkes) and jelly doughnuts (sufganiyot)
playing with a dreidel, a four-sided top; the player wins or loses money depending on which side it lands on (each is marked with a different Hebrew letter)-

Answer 3

the attached page should explain it much better than I could.

but one thing that many non-jews are suprised at, is that Hannukah is one of the *LEAST* important holidays in judaism.

edit, to below... >>"It is the Jewish holiday for christmas. "<<

absolute nonsense and completely untrue. why do people answer things they do not know the answer to?

Answer 4

It is the Jewish holiday for christmas.