Hanukkah
What is the Book of Maccabees?
The Book of Maccabees is a collection of four volumes that recount the history of the Maccabees, the leaders of the Jewish rebellion against the Syrian king, Antiochus Epiphanes, and the Seleucid dynasty. They do not appear in the Jewish...
Why do we celebrate Hanukkah?
Hanukkah is a historical holiday that is not mentioned in the Bible. Its name means ‘dedication,’ and it commemorates the eight-day rededication of the Second Temple by the Hasmoneans that took place at the beginning of the Maccabean...
Doughnuts, dreidels and potato pancakes
Everyone knows that Hanukkah is the Festival of Lights celebrated by the lighting of candles. But there is so much more to the holiday that makes it an eight-day family event. Lighting the Menorah Lighting the nine-branched menorah is not...
Why do we light candles for eight nights of Hanukkah?
The holiday of Hanukkah is most famously identified with the story of the miracle of the single cruse of pure olive oil that burned for eight days. The story of Hanukkah does not appear in the Bible but it is told in the Talmud (Shabbat...
How to light the Hanukkah candles
Hanukkah is the eight-day holiday celebrating the recovery of Jerusalem and subsequent rededication of the Second Temple at the beginning of the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire in the 2nd century BCE. The holiday begins on...