A Popular Dictionary of Judaism
(Hebrew ‘Dedication’). The winter *festival of lights. Hanukkah lasts for eight days beginning on Kislev 25. It commemorates the *Maccabee victory over the *Hellenists and the miraculous lasting of the holy oil for eight days rather than one.
In fact the festival goes back earlier. In the days of the *Temple, torches and lamps were kindled in the Temple courts and water poured out so it reflected back the lights. Today it has become a major festival as a substitute for the Christian Christmas which occurs at much the same time. All observant households have a *menorah for eight candles and one is lit on the first day, two on the second and so on. Card playing and spinning the *dreidel are associated with the festival; it is forbidden to *fast and the *hallel is chanted in *synagogue. It is a particularly important holiday in *Israel as it symbolises the survival of the Jewish people against enormous odds.
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