n 200 BCE Jews lived in the Land of Israel, or Judea, which was ruled by the king of Syria. There was peace until Antiochus IV rose to power in 175 BCE. He ordered an alter to Zeus be placed in the Temple of Jerusalem and steadily thereafter outlawed the practices of Judaism.
The Jewish people rose up together in revolt! At the start they were led by Mattathias, a Jewish priest. Shortly after the revolt began he passed away and his son, Judah, took his place. In 165 BCE, after three years of fighting, Judah's army was victorious. After regaining Jerusalem, Judah ordered the Temple be completely cleansed. During this process only enough pure oil was found to light the menorah, which must burn throughout every night, in the Temple for one night's burning. The oil lasted for awondrous eight days. Hanukkah (spelled various other ways but most common is "Chanukah") , meaning Dedication, was declared by the Jewish sages of the time.



Menorah
The most important tradition in the celebration of Hanukkah is the menorah, Hebrew for "candelabrum", has nine branches. Eight of which represent a day of Hanukkah. The ninth differs in height from the others and is known as the "servant" light, used to light the other lights and is the only light on the menorah that can be used for the sole purpose of illumination. Oil was used to light the menorah but it is now custom that small candles be used. Before or after each night's lighting the candles are blessed; three blessings the first night and two the nights following.

Gelt
Gelt, Yiddish for "money", is the traditional gift of Hanukkah. In the Middle Ages Jewish coins were given to the local Jewish teacher. This practice was later extended to children as well. This was used as a way to improve Jewish education and reinforce studying the Torah.
As time passed, the Jewish coin faded and chocolate shaped like the coins and wrapped in foil was used a gelt instead.

Dreidel
"Dreidel" comes from the German for "top" and in Hebrew the term used is "sevivon". The dreidel has four sides with one Hebrew letter on each. These letters are “nun,” “gimel,” “hei,” and “shin”, outside of Israel, standing for "Nes Gadol Hayah Sham" and meaning, "A great miracle happened there." In Israel the letter "shin" is replaced with "pay", standing for "poh" and meaning "here", to give us- "A great miracle happened here."
The letters are used to play the dreidel game. To start, players have the same amount of gelt, candies, or other items and places one in the collective pot. Each player, in turn, spins the drediel. What happens depends on the letter that is facing up when the dreidel stops. In the game, the meaning of the letters change to give the following guideline:

Nun > nisht > "not"- nothing occurs
Gimel > gants > "all"- take all of the pot
Hei > halb > "half"- take half of the pot
Shin > shtell > "put in"- put one piece in the pot

Game ends when one player has all tokens.



To remember the oil that burned for eight nights, many traditional Hanukkah foods are cooked in oil.
The favorite of these are potato pancakes, or latkes. Latkes consist of grated potatoes with onion, egg, flour, salt, and pepper. All of which is combined then formed into pancakes. These are then put in a layer of oil in a frying pan and cooked until golden brown on each side.
In Israel, sufganiyot is the food of choice for Hanukkah. These are deep-fried doughnuts filled with jelly or preserves and then coated in sugar.
It is also tradition to eat cheese during Hanukkah. This came about to honor Judith who saved her town from Syrian attack during the fight for the Temple. Judith, her town surounded, went to enemy camps and pretended to surrender. She then went to Holofernes, the Syrian General, tent and fed him a great amount of cheese which made him thirst. He drank wine until he feel into a drunken slumber. Judith beheaded Holofernes and toke the head back to her town. Holofernes's soldiers fled in fear upon finding his headless corpse.



Oh Hanukkah
Oh Hanukkah, Oh Hanukkah,
Come light the menorah.
Let’s have a party,
We’ll all dance the hora.
Gather round the table,
We’ll give you a treat.
S’vivon to play with,
Latkes to eat

Other titles include: "Mi Y’maleil" "Ma’oz Tzur" "Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel"




The start of Hanukkah is governed by the Jewish calendar and occurs on the 25th day of Kislev. Due to this Hanukkah can occur in late November.
This year Hanukkah begins on:








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