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21 Facts To Know About Hanukkah: An FAQ For Non-Jews
Ah, Hanukkah. Or Chanukah. Hannukah? Let's answer all your
burning questions about the Festival of Lights!
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Tonight marks the beginning of Hanukkah, a holiday that’s a joy for little
Jewish boys and girls across the world… and a conundrum for many other people.
(Or “chunnundrum.”) You want to learn more about the holiday, but you don’t
want to ask questions that may sound insensitive.No problem! As someone who spent eight years in Hebrew school — including the days I forgot my Game Boy and actually had to pay attention — I’m happy to help with non-Jews’ top queries about Hanukkah.
1. How the hell do you spell it?
Honestly? Follow your heart. It’s a confusing topic, mostly because you’re trying to
transliterate a Hebrew word into a language that is constructed in a totally
different way with different sounds. Google autocorrects to “Hanukkah,” which
is also in the AP Stylebook.
Personally I prefer “Hannukah,” but I think it’s
like string cheese: Some people peel it off, some bite it, and some like the
cheddar/mozzarella combo.
2. When is it? And why does it change every year?
This year, it starts at sundown on December 16th,
and goes until sundown on December 24th (coincidentally, Christmas Eve). It
changes every year because the Hebrew calendar is lunar (technically
lunisolar), while the Gregorian (or Western) calendar is straight-up solar.
Last year, Hanukkah was on Thanksgiving; this year, it ends the day Christmas
begins. In 2016, it starts on Christmas Eve, which is super great for
mixed families and lazy holiday party throwers.
3. Is Hanukkah super important?
“NOT REALLY!” hisses the Jewish cat. If you were to
rank the Jewish holidays by importance, Hanukkah is way down the list. It’s not
as religiously significant as Yom Kippur (the day Jews apologize), or quite as
historic as Passover (when we celebrate escaping Egypt by not eating pasta for
a week).
4. So it’s not the Jewish Christmas?
“Not really!” says the weird Christmas menorah
(we’ll explain menorahs in a minute). Again, it’s an importance thing:
Christmas is basically the most important Christian holiday besides Easter. For
Jews, Hanukkah is, like, ninth-most. There are similarities, though: Christmas
celebrates the miracle of Jesus’ birth, while Hanukkah celebrates a different
miracle (we’re getting there too).
Jewish kids get presents on Hanukkah just like
Christian kids get presents on Christmas, but that’s a pretty late addition to
the Hanukkah tradition. Jewish kids in America get Hanukkah gifts, but Jewish
kids in the rest of the world tend to get coins instead. Oh yeah, we’ll talk
about coins later.
5. Ok, so what IS Hanukkah?
“Glad you asked,” says the Jewish T-Rex. Hanukkah
commemorates the Maccabean Rebellion, and the destruction/rededication of the
Holy Temple. A group of Jews called the Maccabees, led by Judah Maccabee,
fought off a giant army of Seleucid for control of Jerusalem. The Seleucid were
basically ancient Syrians, who were technically Greeks — NOT Romans, who also
persecuted Jews. And NOT Babylonians, who also persecuted Jews. And NOT… well,
the list goes on forever.
Anyway, this all happened around 160 years before
the birth of Jesus. Once the Seleucids were chased out, the Jews went about
rebuilding and re-holy-ing the Holy Temple.
6. What about the candle stuff? I like the candles!
Andrew Ratto/Flickr
Right. So the Maccabees are rebuilding the destroyed temple,
and need to light candles for holiness. They find a tiny jug of oil, barely
enough to last one night. But that tiny amount of oil lasted for eight full nights, which was enough
time for the Jews to find more oil. It was a miracle! Not quite as miraculous
as Moses parting the Red Sea, but probably more of a miracle than finding $20
in your old jeans.
Starting to see why this isn’t the most important
Jewish holiday?
7. Is there a Hanukkah Harry?
NBC
No.
8. How about a Hanukkah Armadillo?!
NBC
Also, no. It’s not really a mascot holiday, y’know?
9. Wait, what’s the candleholder called?
Getty Images
Depends on which one you mean. The one above is called a
“menorah.” Count the arms: Seven total. It’s a pretty standard candleholder in
synagogues across the world, for use on the Sabbath or, like, if it’s way dark
and your phone is out of battery.
A chanukia is the menorah for use on
Hanukkah (see T-Rex above). It has nine arms: eight for each night the miracle
oil burned, and one for the shamash, which is the “helper” candle. The
shamash is typically higher than the other candles, and is the one you light
first. Then, each night at sundown you use the shamash to light the other
candles right-to-left (just like reading Hebrew). You restart every night:
night one, you light the candle on the far right. Night two, you light the
candle on the far right and the one next to it. Night three, you light the
candle on the far right, then the second, then the third. And so on and so
forth.
There are also some prayers you say while you light
the candles — ask (almost) any Jewish person on earth and they can recite them
like the lyrics to the “Fresh Prince” theme song.
10. Is this the holiday where you don’t eat?
Hellllll no. Jews love fasting for various
holidays, but Hanukkah is a decidedly meal-based holiday. And then we eat
donuts.
11. Donuts?
Yes, jelly donuts. Basically, the menu for Hanukkah
is anything fried. Specifically in oil, to celebrate that miraculous eight-day
oil again.
Latkes are a popular Hanukkah treat:
basically fried potato pancakes that usually come with applesauce or sour cream
on the side. They’re technically gluten-free if you don’t use flour, but if
you’re not eating carbs, you can try zucchini
latkes instead.
The jelly donuts are sufganiyah, also
fried in oil, and they date way way back in Jewish history. We eat them because they
symbolize… being delicious?
12. What about the dreidel?
It’s a spinning top. “Dreidel” itself is a Yiddish
word, which is based on the German word drehen, which means “to turn.”
Yiddish is the Girl
Talk of languages, in that it’s a mashup of Hebrew and Yiddish. In Hebrew,
it’s called a sevivon, which means “dreidel.” Confused yet?
They originated back in those Maccabbean times. Jews
weren’t allowed to teach Torah or learn about Judaism, so when the Syrians
would drop by, the Rabbis would tell their kids to hide the books and pull out
the dreidels. 2,000 years later, Jewish kids still use dreidels as a way to
avoid doing work.
13. Are dreidels made from clay?
It’s 2014. They’re plastic.
14. How do you play dreidel?
It’s basically the Jewish version of rollin’ bones. Everyone starts with some coins, or candy,
or raisins, or straight-up GOLD BARS if you’re a boss. You take turns spinning
the dreidel, which has four different Hebrew letters on it. If it lands on נ
(nun), you get nothing. If it lands on ה (hei), you get half the coins. If you
get ש (shin), you have to add coins to the pile. If you get ג (gimel), you win
it all.
If your dreidel keeps spinning forever, then you’re
in “Inception.”
15. Is there a professional hipster dreidel league?
Yeah, of course.
16. What are those chocolate coins?
They’re called “gelt,” and they replaced the coin-gifting of yore, which is an ancient tradition
designed to teach Jewish children about fiscal responsibility. Yeah, that’s a
stereotype, but in this case it has a basis in reality. (And it works — my
checkbook STAYS balanced.)
Anyway, the chocolate coins popped up around 1920 or so. Why chocolate
coins? Besides being delicious, chocolate coins combine the two main edicts of
all Jewish parents: Be careful with money, and you should eat something, you’re
too skinny!
17. Do you really get a present every night?
Again, presents are not integral to Hanukkah in the
way they are to Christmas. But generally speaking, Jewish kids in America get
presents. In my house (where all I wanted was LEGO) I was given a choice: Eight
small presents, or one big one. One year I negotiated to four medium presents,
and rejoiced when I got four large LEGO sets instead. Another Hanukkah miracle!
18. Do you put gifts under the menorah like with a Christmas tree?
No, that’s a fire hazard.
19. Is that Adam Sandler song true? Hall of Famer Rod Carew is Jewish? Kirk AND Spock? What about the J.J. Abrams reboots?
K calm down. In order: No, Hall of Famer Rod Carew is
NOT Jewish. Yes, Kirk and Spock are Jewish, if you mean William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy.
No, Zachary Quinto and Chris
Pine are not.
20. Why do some Jews celebrate both Christmas and Hanukkah?
Well, some kids are raised with both Jewish and
Christian parents. Some kids just enjoy the smell of Christmas trees
(seriously, they smell amazing and we’re very jealous). Some kids are just
greedy and want double presents.
By the way, can you BELIEVE how many cats are
celebrating Hanukkah on the internet?
21. Why do you hate Santa?
We don’t hate him at all. We just learn that he’s
not real a few years before you do.
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