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Guide to Hanukkah for Interfaith Families

What is Hanukkah?

Hanukkah is a holiday that commemorates the Jewish recapture and rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem in 164 BCE. It's celebrated for eight days and usually falls in December. The traditional observances of Hanukkah are lighting a menorah, or ceremonial candelabra, spinning a top called a dreidel and eating fried foods. Though it is religiously minor, Hanukkah is a popular holiday. It's a happy festival in the winter, so it provides what seems to be a universally needed break from the dark and cold. It's a holiday about Jews winning a war, which is not the usual subject for a Jewish holiday. The third reason is obvious: for Jews in Christian culture, Hanukkah is the closest Jewish holiday to Christmas.

Table of Contents


The Historical Roots of Hanukkah
When Is Hanukkah, and How Should I Spell It?
Symbols and Observances of Hanukkah
   Hanukkah Menorah 
   Dreidel
Traditional Foods of Hanukkah
   Hanukkah Recipe Index
Christmas, Hanukkah and the Interfaith Family: Some Alternatives

This guide is also available in .pdf and in Word formats.

A spinning toy used during the holiday of Hanukkah. Any candelabra, but more commonly used to refer to the nine-armed candelabra that is lit for the holiday of Hanukkah. Place of Jewish worship. Same as synagogue. Hanukkah is an eight-day Jewish holiday commemorating the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabean Revolt of the 2nd Century BCE. It is marked by the lighting of a menorah.
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