Hanukkah

  
   
Click here for instructions and blessings for lighting the Chanukiah (Hanukkah menorah).

 

 

The Hebrew word, Hanukkah, means "dedication."  Hanukkah is a joyous eight-day celebration during which the Jewish people commemorate the victory of the Maccabees over the armies of Syria in 165 B.C.E. and the subsequent liberation and "rededication" of the Temple in Jerusalem.  

 

The celebration of Hanukkah centers around the lighting of Hanukkah candles in the chanukiah (Hanukkah menorah), eating fried foods like potato latkes (pancakes), and sufganiyot (doughnuts), and playing the dreidel game and singing Hanukkah songs.