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(or "Hanukkah") Contrary to certain perception, CHANUKAH is NOT the Jewish version of Christmas. Although it is celebrated the same time of year, CHANUKAH commemorates the physical and spiritual victory of the Jews against the Greeks almost 2,000 years ago. begins on Tuesday night December 3 and ends on Wednesday December 11. A HISTORY OF CHANUKAH At the time of the first CHANUKAH, Israel had been under foreign rule for many years since Alexander the Great and his Greek armies conquered much of the region in the fourth century BC. In the year 167 BC, the Syrian king Antiochus Epiphanes ruled over Israel. Antiochus decreed that all his subjects must adopt the customs of Greece. He outlawed the practice of Jewish rituals, even the observance of Sabbath and worshipping in the temple. Many families hated the new rules, but one family in particular took action. An old priest named Mattathias and his five sons retreated to the hills and battled against the Syrians and their Greek allies. Before Mattathias died of old age he passed on his leadership to his son, Judah the Maccabee. Judah and his forces finally defeated the Syrian overlords and their Greek allies in 165 BC. The first goal of Judah and his followers, called the Maccabees, was to reclaim the temple. After cleaning the temple, they looked for oil to light the eternal flame that is always present in a Jewish house of worship. Unfortunately, they could only find enough oil to light the flame for one day. But when they lighted the flame, a miracle happened! The oil lasted for eight days. Since that time Jews around the world have celebrated CHANUKAH to commemorate the reclaiming of Jerusalem and the temple, and most importantly, the miracle of the oil that lasted for eight days. 
LIGHTING THE CANDLES: The MENORAH The most important part of CHANUKAH is lighting the MENORAH. The MENORAH is a candle holder that has spaces for eight candles, placed so that the viewer can easily see how many candles are burning. There is usually one extra candle, called the SHAMMASH, that is used for lighting the other candles. It is placed higher than the other candles to differentiate it from the other candles. The MENORAH is lighted each night of CHANUKAH after sundown. One light is added each night until the last night, when all eight candles are lighted. The candles are placed in the MENORAH starting on your right. Once the candles are in place, you light the SHAMMASH and then use the SHAMMASH to light the other candles from the left, (the opposite way you place the candles in the MENORAH .) In the early days, the MENORAH was placed on the doorstep so all passerbys could see it. Some people still like to put it in a window so that people can see it and remember the miracle of CHANUKAH.  CHANUKAH PRESENTS CHANUKAH celebrations often involve exchanging small gifts. The gifts are usually not elaborate. The most common present is "GELT", or gold coins. These are chocolate candies, covered in gold foil. Children love them! So do adults, for that matter. Because CHANUKAH occurs around Christmas, many people assume that gifts play a major role and that CHANUKAH is a major holiday in the Judaic tradition, but this is not so. The fact is that the major Jewish holidays are ROSH HA-SHANAH (the Jewish New Year), and YOM KIPPUR (the Day of Atonement). These holidays celebrate a new beginning and a striving to repair any problems caused by misdeeds of the past year. 
THE DREIDEL It is an old custom to play games during CHANUKAH. The most common game uses a DREIDEL. A DREIDEL is a top with a different Hebrew letter inscribed on each of its four sides. The four letters are nun, gimel, heh, and shin. They form an acronym - "Neis gadol hayah sham." This means, "A great miracle happened here." Usually the stakes for the game are the chocolate gold coins called "gelt." But they could be just about anything - pennies, peanuts, raisins, or whatever. Each player puts one coin in the "pot." Then the players take turns spinning the DREIDEL. The letter that the DREIDEL stops on determines the score:
LINKS TO OTHER SITES DEVOTED TO THE "FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS" [sites last accessed: 12-15-2002] [sites last checked/accessed 12-15-2002]
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