The Festival of Lights
Hanukkah. Chanukah. חֲנֻכָּה. However you call it, I promise, almost zero Adam Sandler will be found in here.
"It's not even a high holiday!"
Looking for some fun Hanukkah media to consume while you read? This list of movies that feature (or center around) Hanukkah is a pretty good one. (I’m partial to raunchy faves The Hebrew Hammer and The Night Before, because I am twelve.) And here’s a playlist for you to enjoy!
As a note before we get going, I am neither a scholar nor a Jew. There are a lot more authentic (and more correct!) sources out there, so I’d love you to go deep-dive this one on your own.
The History
Hanukkah starts on the 25th of Kislev on the Hebrew calendar, landing it somewhere between late November and late December on the Gregorian calendar.
Most of us are vaguely familiar with the story of a one-day supply of oil lasting eight days, but really, we don't know much more. In 167 BCE, Judaism was outlawed in Jerusalem and the Second Temple was looted. The king ordered a statue of Zeus erected in the Temple. A Jewish priest and his five sons led a rebellion that liberated the Temple.
The festival of Hanukkah was instituted to celebrate this event. Judah ordered the Temple to be cleansed, a new altar to be built in place of the polluted one and new holy vessels to be made. According to the Talmud, unadulterated and undefiled pure olive oil with the seal of the kohen gadol (high priest) was needed for the menorah in the Temple, which was required to burn throughout the night every night. The story goes that one flask was found with only enough oil to burn for one day, yet it burned for eight days, the time needed to prepare a fresh supply of kosher oil for the menorah. An eight-day festival was declared by the Jewish sages to commemorate this miracle. Wikipedia
The Menorah
Each night through Hanukkah, a candle or oil-based light is lit, in succession; one candle the first night, two the second, and so on. The lights should burn for at least half an hour after it gets dark. The menorah should be placed either just on the other side of the door (near the mezuzah) or in a street-facing window to remind passers-by of the miracle. Blessings are said when lighting the candles.
(Interesting: "Hanukkah" derives from a Hebrew verb meaning "to dedicate," referring to the Temple, but the characters themselves can be broken down into "rested twenty-fifth," referring to the fact that the fighting ended on the 25th. Hanukkah is also an acronym that refers to the order in which candles should be lit. Neat!)
Ever noticed that it's eight nights, but nine candles? The center or highest candle is the shamash, which is used to light the others. It is lit each night, in addition to the other candles.
The Food
I mentioned in the wassail post that I think dishes linked to particular celebrations are just really, really neat. Hanukkah gets that.
Because the oil is such a strong symbol of the holiday, a couple of traditional Hanukkah dishes are fried. Latkes (fried potato fritters), loukomades (deep-fried puffs dipped in honey or sugar) and sufganiyot (delicious filled donuts) are… just dreamy. (When Hanukkah lines up with Thanksgiving, there is nothing more incredible.)
Cheese is often served in varying forms to honor Judith beheading Holofernes during the Babylonian captivity of the Jews. Festive!
Challah, matzo ball soup, apple cake and brisket often make an appearance. Likewise, dishes from families' individual heritages appear on the table, like kokosh cake, babka or rugelach. Say hello to kugel, matzoh toffee and more.
Other Fun
The dreidel, interestingly enough, may have its roots in Irish or English tops, which were often played with in Germany during Christmas time. They think the words carved on the sides were really there to explain the game, but varying explanations arose as the game spread to communities that didn't know Yiddish. The explanation that the letters stood for "nes gadol haya sham" (a great miracle happened there) tied the dreidel to Hanukkah. (Another common explanation you’ll hear is that the dreidel was developed by Jews who illegally studied the Torah. This was first published in the 1800s, and is honestly pretty dubious. But it is a source of great pride for many Jews, so it’s a myth that’s pretty much let be.)
Gelt, or gold-wrapped chocolate coins, are often given on the fifth night of Hanukkah (which never falls on the Shabbat; you're forbidden to handle money on that day.) If you’re a non-Jew and you’ve ever gotten chocolate coins in your stocking, you’re not alone: they’re also a Saint Nicholas Day tradition, and so ubiquitous on store shelves that our grandparents definitely grabbed them without thinking.
Gifts
The great irony of Hanukkah is that, religiously speaking, the holiday isn't actually all that important. It only became more important as a reaction to Christmas. The holiday has become a very visible cultural symbol of the faith, and is the aspect of Judaism that most of us goy know the most about. (Some of us raised in Christian traditions may be pretty familiar with Passover, as well.)
American Jews once exchanged gifts on Purim. However, as Victorians became obsessed with Christmas, the gift-giving tradition shifted among Jewish communities to Hanukkah. The trend really took off after the Holocaust, when it was thought that gifts might help Jewish children feel happy and vocal about being Jewish when their peers were all aglow about Christmas. Many families give gifts each night, but for most families, the gifts during the middle nights are rather modest.
Hanukah Bush
Since Hanukkah is… uh… not Christmas, the absence of a Christmas tree seems pretty natural. But the reality is that it's a pretty sticky (sappy?) issue. Attitudes about the presence of a Christmas tree in a Jewish household are all over the map. Many Jewish leaders see rejecting the Christmas tree as a very important way to stand the Jewish faith apart. On the flip side, many Jewish families saw it as an important way to blend into their communities. Some see it is a symbol of Christianity. Since it became a popular Christmas staple, many Jews have viewed the tree as essentially secular, and thus a perfectly fine way to celebrate winter. Some people see it as a symbol of Jewish oppression; others see it as a symbol of coming together. It’s divisive.
Enter the “Hanukkah bush.”
Among us goy, I hear the question a lot: is it actually a bush? The term itself is a big wink-and-a-nudge, a way to pretend the decorated tree in your living room isn't somehow a Christmas tree. Some families have gone all-in on the concept, choosing round or even inverted trees as their "bush." There were even tries to popularize a “menorah tree”. But for the most part, they're trees. Many families choose Jewish-themed decorations to celebrate their culture and set their tree apart.
In what may be the first discovered printed reference to the tradition, an 1879 Jewish Messenger newspaper asked, "Why need we adopt the Christmas tree, ridiculously baptized a Chanukah bush?" Clearly, the Hanukkah bush has never been universally loved!
Oh, and don’t forget the Mensch on a Bench, created as an alternative to the Elf on a Shelf.