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A brief history of Hanukkah |
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Written by By Caroline Schley
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Tuesday, 27 November 2007 |
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Hanukkah is celebrated for eight days and nights, starting on the 25th of Kislev on the Hebrew calendar (which begins this year on Dec. 5). It is thought that the word Hanukkah comes from a Hebrew verb meaning “to dedicate” or “to educate.” Hanukkah is also known as the festival of lights. It can also be spelled “chanukah.”
The whole thing started when...
In ancient times Antiochus IV, the Greek King of Syriades (successor of Alexander the Great), began to severely oppress the Jewish constituents under his rule. He outlawed Jewish rituals and ordered the Jews to worship Greek gods.
In 168 B.C.E. the Jews' holy Temple was seized and dedicated to the worship of Zeus. Some Jews were afraid of the Greek soldiers and obeyed them, but most were angry and decided to fight back.
The fighting began in Modiin, a village not far from Jerusalem. A Greek officer and soldiers assembled the villagers, asking them to bow to an idol and eat the flesh of a pig, activities forbidden to Jews. The officer asked Mattathias, a Jewish High Priest, to take part in the ceremony. He refused, and another villager stepped forward and offered to do it instead. Mattathias became outraged, took out his sword and killed the man, then killed the officer. His five sons and the other villagers then attacked and killed the soldiers. Mattathias' family went into hiding in the nearby mountains, where many other Jews who wanted to fight the Greeks joined them. They attacked the Greek soldiers whenever possible.
Judah Maccabee and his soldiers went to the holy Temple and were saddened that many things were missing or broken, including the golden menorah. They cleaned and repaired the Temple and when they were finished, they decided to have a big dedication ceremony. For the celebration, the Maccabees wanted to light the menorah. They looked everywhere for oil, and found a small flask that contained only enough oil to light the menorah for one day. Miraculously, the oil lasted for eight days. This gave them enough time to obtain new oil to keep the menorah lit. Today Jews celebrate Hanukkah for eight days by lighting candles in a menorah every night, thus commemorating the eight-day miracle. It is traditional to eat fried foods on Chanukkah because of the significance of oil to the holiday.
Now-a-days
Many non-Jews (and even many assimilated Jews) think of this holiday as the Jewish Christmas, adopting many of the Christmas customs, such as elaborate gift-giving and decoration. It is bitterly ironic that this holiday, which has its roots in a revolution against assimilation and the suppression of Jewish religion, has become the most assimilated, secular holiday on our calendar.
The only traditional gift given on Hanukkah is “gelt”(chocolate coin) or small amounts of money. Other popular gifts include jewelry, glass ornaments, menorahs, and games or toys for children. Pretty much the same stuff you would give for Christmas, but sometimes gifts are less expensive because there are so many of them. Some families have the gifts become slightly more extravagant each evening, but this is not necessarily traditional.
 Light the menorah…
The only religious observance related to the holiday is the lighting of candles. The candles are arranged in a candelabrum called a menorah (or sometimes called a chanukkiah) that holds nine candles: one for each night, plus a shammus (servant) at a different height. On the first night, one candle is placed at the far right. The shammus candle is lit and three berakhot (blessings) are recited: l'hadlik neir (a general prayer over candles), she-asah nisim (a prayer thanking God for performing miracles for our ancestors at this time), and she-hekhianu (a general prayer thanking God for allowing us to reach this time of year-this blessing is only recited he first night of the holiday).
After reciting the blessings, the first candle is then lit using the shammus candle, and the shammus candle is placed in its holder. The candles are allowed to burn out on their own after a minimum of 1/2 hour. Each night, another candle is added from right to left (like the Hebrew language). Candles are lit from left to right.
Why the shammus candle?
The Chanukkah candles are for pleasure only; they are not to be used for any productive purpose. So the shamus candle can be put toward useful purposes, such as lighting other candles. The shammus candle is at a different height so that it is easily identified as the shammus.
Dreidel and other games...
Another tradition of the holiday is playing dreidel, a gambling game played with a square top. Most people play for matchsticks, pennies, M&Ms or chocolate coins. The traditional explanation of this game is that during the time of Antiochus' oppression, those who wanted to study Torah (an illegal activity) would conceal their activity by playing gambling games with a top (a common and legal activity) whenever an official or inspector was within sight.
A dreidel is marked with four Hebrew letters: Nun, Gimel, Hei and Shin. These letters stand for the Hebrew phrase "Nes Gadol Hayah Sham," a great miracle happened there, referring to the miracle of the oil.
The letters also stand for the Yiddish words nit (nothing), gantz (all), halb (half) and shtell (put), which are the rules of the game. There are some variations in the way people play the game, but the way I learned it, everyone puts in one coin. A person spins the dreidel. If it lands on Nun, nothing happens; on Gimel (or, as we called it as kids, "gimme!"), you get the whole pot; on Hei, you get half of the pot; and on Shin, you put one in. When the pot is empty, everybody puts one in. Keep playing until one person has everything. Then redivide it, because nobody likes a poor winner.
Another traditional Hanukkah game involves hiding pieces of matza bread and gelt around the house and having a scavenger hunt.
Recipe Idea — Latkes
Makes approximately 12 palm-sized latkes
Ingredients:
• 4 medium potatoes
• 1 medium onion
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup matzah meal (flour or bread crumbs can be substituted)
• salt and black pepper to taste
• vegetable oil
Method:
Shred the potatoes and onion into a large bowl. Press out all excess liquid.(if using a food processor, use the chopping blade for 2 or 3 seconds after pressing out liquid to avoid stringy fly-aways). Add eggs and mix well. Add matzah meal gradually while mixing until the batter is doughy, not too dry. (you may not need the whole amount, depending on how well you drained the veggies). Add a few dashes of salt and black pepper. (don't taste the batter — it's really gross!). Don't worry if the batter turns a little orange; that will go away when it fries.
Heat about 1/2 inch of oil to medium-high heat. Form the batter into thin patties about the size of your palm. Fry batter in oil. Be patient: this takes time, and too much flipping will burn the outside without cooking the inside. Flip when the bottom is golden brown.
Place finished latkes on paper towels to drain. Eat hot with sour cream or applesauce. They reheat OK in a microwave, but not in an oven unless you cook them just right.
If you'd like to try something a little different, add some bell peppers, parsley, carrots, celery, or other vegetables to the batter to make veggie latkes! You may need to add a third egg and some more matzah meal for this. For a zesty twist, add some diced jalepeño peppers to the batter! This should definitely be served with sour cream!
Time-saving substitutions:
Grocery stores now provide many time-saving options for cooking. The substitutions below will save you time in preparing the batter and cleaning up. Sorry, nothing I can do to speed the frying time. You can substitute any or all of these:
• Substitute 3 cups hash-brown style shredded potatoes for the potatoes (Simply Potatoes brand works well and is kosher-certified)
• Substitute 1 cup frozen chopped onions (thawed and drained) for the onion
• Substitute 1/2 cup egg whites from a carton for the eggs
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 27 November 2007 )
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