"The real story of Hanukkah begins with a revolt, for reasons that would resonate to this day – gross inequality and religious coercion. Rather less well-known is that the holiday originally had nothing to do with a miraculous oil supply but rather involved ousting foreign rule and slaughtering Hellenized Jews.
...The inequality led Jewish zealots to oppose the sweeping cultural changes in Judea. The alarmed Hellenized Jews called for the emperor's help; and the emperor did send troops to entrench Hellenization even further. Thus the war known to history as the Maccabean Revolt began. After some years of guerrilla warfare under the leadership of Judah Maccabee, Jewish independence was regained. Jerusalem was freed. The Hellenized Jews were slaughtered and the Temple was rededicated.
Sometime during the Middle Ages, it became a tradition for Jewish women to eat dairy products on the holiday in recognition of the heroism of Judith, the Jewish heroine of the Book of Judith....In Eastern Europe, the dairy diet took the shape of eating latkes, which were cheesy pancakes. Only later in the mid-19th Century, when Russian farmers began growing potatoes, did latkes take the form of the potato pancakes that we know today.
The tradition of spinning dreidels on Hanukkah is also a product of the Middle Ages. The dreidel was simply a gambling game, with the letters on the dreidel not denoting "nes gadol haya sham" (“A great miracle happened there”) as we say today. Rather, each letter stood for a Yiddish word having to do with the game: nun was for nicht (nothing), gimel was for ganz (all), shin was for stell ein (put in), and hei was for half (half) – which indicated what one must do after each turn. The rules are those of an earlier non-Jewish gambling game called teetotum.
^ "Finally, Hanukkah has always been a minor holiday in Jewish tradition. That's because while other holidays are sanctioned by the Bible and thus are seen as divinely ordained, Hanukkah is post-biblical: it was ordained by rabbis. It seems to have gained its importance in the 20th Century in the United States, mainly because it tends to coincide with Christmas. And this is how the holiday got its present shape with dreidels, latkes, sufganiyot and menorahs, and lest we forget - gifts."
Even though the kids are all grown and not at home, we still light 4 menorahs, ours and one for each of them. We have to take pictures so that they know the "winner," the last candle standing. It is always my youngest's, Noah's Ark. Like the Hanukkah miracle of yore, that friggin' thing will keep a flame long after it should have gone out. Last night, 2 menorahs had 2" of candle left and hers was a pool in the holder. She still won. It's a fun little tradition.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Skitime
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Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Alan R
"The real story of Hanukkah
"The real story of Hanukkah begins with a revolt, for reasons that would resonate to this day – gross inequality and religious coercion. Rather less well-known is that the holiday originally had nothing to do with a miraculous oil supply but rather involved ousting foreign rule and slaughtering Hellenized Jews.
...The inequality led Jewish zealots to oppose the sweeping cultural changes in Judea. The alarmed Hellenized Jews called for the emperor's help; and the emperor did send troops to entrench Hellenization even further. Thus the war known to history as the Maccabean Revolt began. After some years of guerrilla warfare under the leadership of Judah Maccabee, Jewish independence was regained. Jerusalem was freed. The Hellenized Jews were slaughtered and the Temple was rededicated.
Sometime during the Middle Ages, it became a tradition for Jewish women to eat dairy products on the holiday in recognition of the heroism of Judith, the Jewish heroine of the Book of Judith....In Eastern Europe, the dairy diet took the shape of eating latkes, which were cheesy pancakes. Only later in the mid-19th Century, when Russian farmers began growing potatoes, did latkes take the form of the potato pancakes that we know today.
The tradition of spinning dreidels on Hanukkah is also a product of the Middle Ages. The dreidel was simply a gambling game, with the letters on the dreidel not denoting "nes gadol haya sham" (“A great miracle happened there”) as we say today. Rather, each letter stood for a Yiddish word having to do with the game: nun was for nicht (nothing), gimel was for ganz (all), shin was for stell ein (put in), and hei was for half (half) – which indicated what one must do after each turn. The rules are those of an earlier non-Jewish gambling game called teetotum.
https://www.haaretz.com/jewish/the-astonishing-real-story-of-hanukkah-1....
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Alan R
^ Finally, Hanukkah has
^ "Finally, Hanukkah has always been a minor holiday in Jewish tradition. That's because while other holidays are sanctioned by the Bible and thus are seen as divinely ordained, Hanukkah is post-biblical: it was ordained by rabbis. It seems to have gained its importance in the 20th Century in the United States, mainly because it tends to coincide with Christmas. And this is how the holiday got its present shape with dreidels, latkes, sufganiyot and menorahs, and lest we forget - gifts."
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Briank
Happy Hanukkah, to all that
Happy Hanukkah, to all that celebrate!
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Alan R
cool menorah
cool menorah
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Briank
Even though the kids are all
Even though the kids are all grown and not at home, we still light 4 menorahs, ours and one for each of them. We have to take pictures so that they know the "winner," the last candle standing. It is always my youngest's, Noah's Ark. Like the Hanukkah miracle of yore, that friggin' thing will keep a flame long after it should have gone out. Last night, 2 menorahs had 2" of candle left and hers was a pool in the holder. She still won. It's a fun little tradition.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: nevermind
What's not to like about a
What's not to like about a Festival of Lights? Happy Hanukkah.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: treat island
I like that we have 2
I like that we have 2 Chanukah threads going - love and light to all who want it.
https://vivalazone.org/other-stuff/happy-hanukkah-chanukkah-%D7%97%D7%A0...