Hanukkah Lights Of 2011: Dates, Customs, History Explained

Hanukkah celebrations around the world:

Hanukkah, the Jewish Festival of Lights, is celebrated Dec. 20-28, 2011. On the Jewish calendar, the Hebrew dates for Hanukkah are from sundown on the 25th of Kislev to sundown on the 2nd of Tevet in the year 5772.

The Festival of Lights, an eight-day celebration, marks the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem in the second century B.C.E. during the Maccabean revolt against oppressive Greek rulers. It is one of the most widely observed Jewish holidays -- perhaps due to its proximity to Christmas on the Gregorian calendar -- and is celebrated by lighting a nine-branch candelabrum commonly called a menorah. (Technically, the candelabrum is called a hanukkiah to distinguish itself from the seven-branch menorah used in the Temple.)

The story of Hanukkah is one of revolution and miracles: Greek influence over the Jews in the Land of Israel was getting out of hand. Hellenism was spreading, an affront to Jewish culture and religious practice. When the Greek ruler of the time, Antiochus, forbade Jewish religious practice, a small group of Jews, the Maccabees, revolted. The Maccabees were successful and, as a first order of business, restored the desecrated Holy Temple. The menorah in the Temple needed to be lit. Traditionally, the candelabrum burned continuously. The Temple liberators searched high and low but could find only one vial of olive oil, which seemed to be enough for just one day. Miraculously, the oil lasted for eight days, which was just enough time to receive a new shipment. To celebrate the miracle, Hanukkah was instituted.

Today, Jews everywhere light menorahs on each night of Hanukkah. Traditionally, one candle or flame is lit for each night until the eighth night, when all eight lights shine together. The menorah has a ninth "helper" flame -- known as the shamash -- used to light the other candles. This is necessary because in Jewish law the Hanukkah lights serve no other purpose than declaring the miracle of the holiday. Jews place the lit menorah in a prominent window in order to fulfill this commandment.

Gift giving is now a common practice on Hanukkah, and it is therefore a beloved time for Jewish children. Fried potato pancakes (latkes) and doughnuts (sufganiyot) are traditional fare, and a spinning top (dreidel) with four Hebrew letters has become synonymous with the holiday. The letters -- nun, gimel, hei, shin -- form an acronym for the message of Hanukkah: A great miracle happened there.

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Comments

[Hlynn]

04:36 PM on 12/21/2011

Lovely photos! The ones at night with all the people celebrating are my favorites.

I used to babysit for a family who was Jewish when I was a teenager and I remember seeing their lit candles and the children playing with their Hanukkah gifts. They taught me how to play a dreidel game and I played it with my children and still play it with my students. I also remember singing Hanukkah songs with the Christmas songs in our concerts as a child and with my students when I was student teaching. I just found my favorite one online just now:

http://www.musickit.com/resources/eightdays.html

Does anyone else remember singing this song?

[Kirk Job-Sluder]

04:04 PM on 12/21/2011

Have a great holiday for those who celebrate it.

[grantpaten]

01:08 PM on 12/21/2011

Obama lit the menorah two weeks before Hannuka, and with a menorah that was not kosher (the shamos, or the candle used to light the other candles is supposed to be higher, not lower than the other eight).

He somehow manages to celebrate the Islamic holidays right on schedule, and without sacrilege.

[zev57]

10:01 AM on 12/21/2011

This Jewish rapper called the Greeks who controlled Judea Assyrians. He is mistaken as most Jews don't know their history. The Assyrians created the first Diaspora whereby 10 Tribes of Israel essentially disappeared from history.

It was under Selucids, the successors to Alexander the Great who divided his empire after his death that the Jewish nation found itself. Hellenism, the assimilation of the Jews into Greek culture, was well under way until a rural priest in the oldest Jewish city, Modiin, rose up with his family and the Macabees were forge.

Think of Hannukah this way. If Mattatias, the Jewish priest, had not risen up against the Greeks Jesus might have been born not a Jew but a Hellenic and we would never have had Christmas.''

Bill Levy [e-mail]

[Lambird]

03:29 PM on 12/22/2011

What a great way to put it! Blessings

[BlackYowe]

03:18 AM on 12/21/2011

Not many women in the photos. Where are the reformed Jewish families in the photos?

[Satirist1]

01:50 AM on 12/21/2011

hmmm, I dunno. I kinda like Athena and Zeus.

[dblueII]

01:12 AM on 12/21/2011

People will find any excuse to take a shot at Obama. What was he supposed to do? NOT have a reception? Damed if he does and damned if he doesn't.

[Todd G Chavey]

12:56 AM on 12/21/2011

All I know is that when I was a little kid, I would have been one pissed off MF'er if I was Jewish, Muslim, Hindi, etc., on Christmas day. I have a good feeling that all Jews, Muslims, Hindis, Atheists, etc. feel a feeling of being left out of something big during Christmas season.

[BlackYowe]

10:32 PM on 12/20/2011

Why so many Hasidic Judaism? Why not show some other Jewish traditions? Hasidic Jews are a tiny minority of the Jews of the world.

[heartlandmamma]

05:23 PM on 12/21/2011

I thought the same thing.

[BlackYowe]

06:28 PM on 12/21/2011

I have allot of Jewish friends and in-laws and none of them dress or look like these folks, LOL.

[austinreid]

11:54 AM on 12/23/2011

Well you have to understand many Americans have Reform or Conservative Jewish relatives or friends not many Americans have ever so much as seen a Hasidic Jew. It’s much more interesting for many people to see Hasidic Jews in the news because they have never seen them in real life. And as you know, today’s media is strongly geared to what interests or entertains people. It simply is more interesting for most people to see Hasidic Jews and that is why they are shown in greater proportions.

[mcwhomper]

09:49 PM on 12/20/2011

how come they don't have trouble calling it what it is like they do calling a christmas tree a christmas tree

[geoffpoon]

09:25 PM on 12/20/2011

Obama is a Hebrew??

[fredyacht1]

09:16 PM on 12/20/2011

He really is a lost soul....undecided to bow to Saudis, light candles for Jews, Deck the halls, have a Christmas tree or a Holiday tree, or just admit it is all about Kwanza

[Hetneo]

07:13 AM on 12/21/2011

You are lost mind forgetting that Obama is president of all Americans, that includes Jews, Christians, Muslims, Native Americans, Asian, Hispanic, Humanists, Atheists, Gnostics, Agnostics, Pagans, Republicans, Democrats, Independants, and so on and so on.

[grantpaten]

12:52 PM on 12/21/2011

That does not justify his bowing to the Saudi Arabians. He does not bow to others.

[austinreid]

11:58 AM on 12/23/2011

Well as I understand it the White House is considered to be owned by all Americans we just allow the president to live there for the duration of his term but we the American people are the real owners. It only seems right therefore that all religious holidays get celebrated in the White House because Americans of all religious faiths own it.

[gregbelter]

08:48 PM on 12/20/2011

A nice holiday.

[empress trudy]

08:39 PM on 12/20/2011

Rest assured Liberals. The Hasmoneans who fought assimilation and Hellenisation lost that battle to their urbane elites in a 120 years. They all wound up Hellenized, adopting Greek and Roman names, practicing pagan religion and making a mockery of the whole effort. They wound up the Reform Jews of their era who eventually just gave up and adopted whatever was fashionable and trendy. I bet half the Mithraists were x-Jews too.

So don't worry, it's of little consequence. Your grandchildren will ask "What's this funny holiday? And you can answer "It's that silly superstitious thing your great grandparents did before they knew any better, before they became ProgressiBorgs.

[mlfertig]

09:33 PM on 12/20/2011

WACKO

[mlfertig]

09:35 PM on 12/20/2011

Santa called..you are getting coal in your stocking this year for being a naughty hateful girl

[heartlandmamma]

08:16 PM on 12/20/2011

I cannot believe all the hostile remarks made about this President's relationship to the jewish community. As a Jew, like most jews in this country, we support our president. Jews vote overwhelmingly for Democrats btw. And a lot of these comments are flying right by your oh-so-insensitive moderators, who don't seem to mind anti-semitic comments containing stereotypes involving jews and money, jews and hollywood, jews and the media, etc. I thought ad hominem remarks were not allowed. What a joke that is when it comes to jewish related matters.

I read the article, saw the pictures and simply wanted to wish all my fellow jews Chag Sameach and a Happy Chanukah. Now that wasn't so bad was it. Frankly, I'm not a big proponent of lighting public menorahs on public land. It seems to me to be a bad precedent to encourage in a pluralistic society, where it looks like jews trying to compete with christmas. Chanukah is a minor jewish holiday and doesn't need all this public attention except for the fact that retailers love to hook us into the same consumerism that the rest of the country goes crazy for this time of year.

My mom used to give us a pair of mittens or some gelt every year when we were kids. Not a big deal. Being with family, lighting candles, singing songs, eating latkes and playing dreidel...that was what made the holiday special.

[grantpaten]

01:06 PM on 12/21/2011

You sound like a wimp. I am Jewish, and am proud when the Menorah is lit. The land is public, but the Menorah is paid for with private funds.

Many Jews don't support Obama. Obama is anti-Israel and anti-Semitic. He and his minions berate Israel, while worshipping at the feet of the King of Saudi Arabia. Look how anti-Semitism is blamed on Israel by his administration. What, there was no anti-Semitism before Israel?

Look how Hillary dares to criticize Israel's democracy, while turning a blind eye to the Saudis, Look how Islamic countries are NEVER criticized by this administration for their poor treatment of our Christain brethren.

Look how Israel is blamed by this administration blames Israel for the lack of peace talks, even though it is Abbas who won't come to the table to negotiate, even as Israel stupidly froze settlements for 10 months.

And speaking of settlements, that land was bought and paid for Jewish contributions in the 1800's and early 1900's. The so-called Palestinians have no claim to that land. They did not own it. Similarly Jews lived in Hebron for thousands of years until the Arab riots of 1929 led to the rape & elimination of almost every Jew there.

Obama never address the fact that over a million Jews were kicked out of Arab countries from 1947-present. Most ended up in Israel and today the majority of Israelis came from Arab countries. Why does he not recognize these refugees?

[heartlandmamma]

04:58 PM on 12/21/2011

President Obama is not the president of Israel...let's get that straight first off. Second, what Jew calls Christians "brethren" a linguistic term used by fellow Christians to describe one another as brothers? Not exactly very Jewish, but then again, I have no proof do I? Sorry, but I don't buy your imprimatur on the history of the "so-called Palestinians" either. You clearly have an agenda posting here. And as a true born and raised Jew, you should know that making false witness is a true sin against G-d.

This article was about Chanukah around the world. Weird that you would go off on the all too familiar Obama-derangement-syndrome, as so many have regarding this article. The fact is that Obama is held in high regard by the Jewish community and the latest Gallup polls show this. He is on par with where other Democratic presidents have been in his presidency. And by the way, Israeli polls show he is more popular there as well then you say, and his approval continues to go up there as well. Jews far and away vote for democrats, including this president, over republicans in all elections in this country. Nice try though....Obama 2012!!! Chag Sameach!

[austinreid]

12:04 PM on 12/23/2011

The president has repeatedly stated his support for Israel just last week he met with leaders of the Reform movement to again express his support for a secure, safe Israel. The administration also removed that ambassador from his post and officially stated they do not endorse his positions on Israel causing anti-Semitism.