Happy Hanukkah – 21 December 2011
In Judaism Hanukkah is celebrated for 8 days to commemorate the regaining of the temple in Jerusalem around 168 BC from the Greeks. Needing to purify the temple after it had been dedicated to Zeus, the troops were determined to purify the Temple by burning ritual oil in the Temple’s menorah for eight days. But to their dismay, they discovered that there was only one day’s worth of oil left in the Temple. They lit the menorah anyway and to their surprise the small amount of oil lasted the full eight days.
Traditions include: Lighting the Hanukkiyah (to commemorate the miracle of the Hanukkah oil), Spinning the dreidel (a game using which is a four-sided top with Hebrew letters written on each side) and Eating fried foods: Because Hanukkah celebrates the miracle of oil.
