Celebrated December 16th, 2006 -December 23rd, 2006
~Actually begins at sunset on December 15th~
Annie's
Hanukkah Page
Celebrated
December 16th, 2006 -December 23rd, 2006
~Actually begins at sunset on
December 15th~
Hanukkah,
pronounced HAH nu kah, is the Jewish Feast of Lights or Feast of
Dedication. The Hebrew word
hanukkah (also written Hannuka; Hanukah or Chanukah) means
dedication. The Hanukkah holiday begins on the eve of the 25th
day of the Hebrew month of Kislev
(approximately December) and lasts eight days.
During Hanukkah, gifts are exchanged and contributions made to
the poor. On the first evening, one candle is lighted in a
special eight-branched candelabrum called a menorah or
hanukkiyah. Beginning on the second night, one candle is added
every night until the total reaches eight on the last night. The
candles are lighted by a separate candle called a shamash.
The two books of Maccabees in the Apocrypha tell the story of
Hanukkah. In 165 B.C., after a three-year struggle led by Judah Maccabee, the Jews
in Judea defeated the Syrian tyrant Antiochus IV. They held
festivities in the Temple in Jerusalem, and dedicated it to God.
According to the Talmud, written many centuries after the event,
when the Jews cleaned the Temple of Syrian idols, they found only
one small cruse of oil with which to light their holy lamps. But
miraculously, the cruse provided them with oil for eight days.
Other sources tell of a torchlight parade in the Temple, which
may also have contributed to the tradition of lighting candles on
Hanukkah.
~Above Information from The World Book~
Judah
Maccabee
Judah Maccabee, pronounced JOO duh
MAK uh bee, was the leader of the Jews in their struggle for
independence in the 100's B.C. He was the son of a priest named
Mattathias from the ancient city of Modin. Judah's name is also
spelled Judas Maccabaeus. His family is known as the Hasmoneans
in the rabbinic texts. Judah's story is told in the Book of 1
Maccabees in the Apocrypha.
At that time, the Jews were subjects of the Seleucid Empire, one
of the states formed out of Alexander the Great's empire. The
Seleucid king, Antiochus IV (called
Epiphanes), wanted his subjects to adopt Greek culture and
customs. Many Jews did this, almost to the point of abandoning
their religion. But others resisted.
Antiochus also
wanted to get possession of the treasures in the Jews' Temple. In
168 or 167 B.C., angered by Jewish resistance to his policy, he
entered Jerusalem, killed many of the people, and defiled the
Temple by building an altar to a pagan god there. This is known
as the Abomination of Desolation in the Gospels and in the Book
of Daniel. The practice of Jewish law was forbidden, and copies
of the law were destroyed. Jews who disobeyed were killed.
War broke out when an officer of the king came to Modin and tried
to make Mattathias offer sacrifice to the pagan god. Mattathias
refused. He fled to the hills, and although he died soon after,
his son Judah took his place. Though outnumbered, he repeatedly
defeated the king's armies. About 165 B.C., he re-entered
Jerusalem and purified and rededicated the Temple. The Jewish
feast of Hanukkah commemorates this event. Judah won other
victories, but in 160 B.C. he died in battle. His brothers,
Jonathan and Simon, carried on. ~Above Information from The World
Book~
Hanukkah, or the Feast of Lights, is a celebration of
God's deliverance of the Jews in 165 B.C. That year, the Jews won
their first struggle for religious freedom by defeating the
Syrians, who wanted them to give up Judaism. Hanukkah usually
comes in December and is celebrated by the lighting of candles in
a special Hanukkah branched candlestick called a menorah.
Hanukkah (or Chanukah), Jewish festival. The triumph of the few over the many and the weak over the strong, and the faith in one miracle-making god is celebrated on the Jewish festival of Hanukkah.
Jerusalem was ruled as part of the Seleucid Dynasty beginning in about 198 BC . One member of the dynasty in particular, Antiochus Epiphanes IV, who ruled from 175 to 163 BC, brought Greek culture to the land of Israel and insisted that the Jews living there worship the pagan gods idolized by the Seleucid Greeks. Mattathias, a high priest from the village of Modi'in, led a revolt against the rule of Antiochus. When Antiochus ordered the Jews to make animal sacrifices and pay homage to Greek gods and pagan idols, Mattathias refused. Antiochus threatened those refusing to abandon their Judaism with the death penalty, and his armies desecrated the Temple in Jerusalem. The small army of Jews was led by Mattathias and subsequently by his son Judas Maccabaeus, or Judah Maccabee. The name Maccabee came from the Hebrew word for hammer. The Maccabees regained access to the Temple in Jerusalem after seven years of fighting. In 165 BC the Maccabees purified and rededicated the Temple. The festival of Hanukkah took its name from the Hebrew word for dedication.
A later story found in the Jewish oral law compiled in the Talmud told of a small vial of oil found by the Maccabees when they came into the Temple. There was enough oil to last for only one night, but the oil miraculously lasted for eight nights, during which time Judah Maccabee was able to obtain fine fresh oil for the temple lamps. Some scholars believe that this story was added to move the focus of the story from the military victory to the sacred realm of God and miracles. Hanukkah became known as both the Festival of Lights and the Festival of Dedication.
The holiday, which is not a holy day requiring fasting or praying, has been celebrated continuously for thousands of years by Jews all over the world. It begins on the 25th of the Jewish month of Kislev, which usually falls sometime in the civil month of December, and is celebrated for eight nights to commemorate the eight days during which the oil lasted. The holiday involves worship that is centered more in the home than in the synagogue. People light candles on a menorah, or hanukkiah, adding a new candle for each night. The menorah is an eight-branched candelabra with a ninth holder for a helper candle called the shamash. Since the menorah could not be used as the only source of light, and since no candle was to light another, the shamash was used to light each nightly candle. Two blessings are said each night: one is a blessing over the candles, and the other is in remembrance of the miracle of the oil. An extra blessing of thanksgiving is added on the first night. The menorah is displayed prominently in a family's window. Many of the customs and rituals surrounding the holiday relate to oil. The foods prepared for Hanukkah include latkes, or potato pancakes fried in oil, and round donuts, called sufganiyot, that are filled with jelly and fried in oil. The tradition of giving gelt, or Hanukkah coins, to children began in Europe in the Middle Ages. Occasionally the gelt is used to create a pot for a game of dreidel. The dreidel is a spinning top with a different letter on each of its four sides. The letters are the first initials of the words in the phrase nes gadol haya sham, meaning "a great miracle happened there." Children and parents play the game until someone wins all of the gelt. In modern Israel the letters of the dreidel were changed to reflect the translation "a great miracle happened here." The dreidel is called sevivon in Hebrew.
In contemporary Israel Hanukkah is a national holiday, and students present plays, sing holiday songs, and have parties. Schools are closed, and menorahs are displayed atop such prominent buildings as the Israeli parliament, or Knesset. The highlight of the eight-day festival is an annual relay race from Modi'in to Jerusalem. Runners carry burning torches through the streets beginning in Modi'in. The runners continue until the final torchbearer arrives at the Western Wall, which is the last remnant of the Temple. The torchbearer hands the torch to the chief rabbi, who uses it to light the first candle of a giant menorah.
In countries where Christmas rituals
are widespread, some echoes of those rituals appear in Hanukkah
celebrations. Some families, for example, exchange gifts or
decorate their homes. The word Hanukkah in Hebrew also means
"education," and rabbis and Jewish educators try to
instill in their congregants and students the notion that the
holiday celebrates Jewish continuity. They teach that Mattathias
and his sons had stood up to their oppressors and that modern
Jews must also insist on Jewish continuity.
~From Compton's Encyclopedia~
Jewish
Hanukah Links:
Jewish Holiday Cooking:
Hanukah
The Online Menorah
The Jewish Parent Page
Judaism 101 - Chanukkah
Happy Chanukah
Jewish Cooking With Joan
Nathan
Perfect Latkes
See Chanukkah Candle Lighting Blessings for the full text of these
blessings.
Hanukkah celebration is
rich with tradition
Test your knowledge of the
month's major religious observances
How Jewish families deal
with 'the December dilemma'
Learn how to: Celebrate Hanukkah & Find Hanukkah Information Online & Make Challah
& Prepare for Hanukkah & Understand Hanukkah's Significance
& Light the Menorah from "ehow.com"
Virtual Chanukah
Hanukkah
Pages for Kids
Not Just for Kids Hanukkah
Torah Tots has some GREAT Chanukah pages:
Play Spin the Dreidel
Online
Coloring Pages
Fun & Games
About Chanuka
Kids Domain have some great Chanukah pages:
Chanukah Time at Kids Domain
Crafts & Clip Art
Online Games
Word Searches
Mazes & Icons
Coloring Pages
ALEF Land has a great Happy Chanuka!! Page to visit.
They have a Light the Menorah Game to download for FREE and
play on your computer.
Coloring Pages & Online Story
Sear's Portrait Shop Online offers: Hanukkah Latkes...Yum! & My Hanukkah Holiday for Kids to enjoy
Happy Chanukah - "The Jewish holiday
known as Chanukah, Festival of Lights, as seen through the eyes
of 6th graders at the Ramaz Lower School in NYC."
From "ehow.com -- Learn how to: Make a Dreidel & Play the Dreidel Game & Teach Children the Meaning of
Hanukkah
Interactive Menorah
More
Hanukah Pages:
Messianic
Hanukah Links: The Messianic Significance
of Hanukah
The World Book Encyclopedia has this page Hanukkah
Christmas, Hanukah, Yule,
Kwanzaa
from FabulousFoods.com
Happy Hanukkah from the 4
Seests in Paradise!!
The Tabernacle
of God and The Menorah: The Holy Place could be entered by
ordinary priests. It contained the table of the shewbread, the
menorah, or seven-branched candlestick, and an incense altar.
~From Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia~
Read the Weekly Torah Reading Online at Torah Fax in Cyberspace
The
dictionary defines:
drei•del
Pronunciation: (drAd'l),
—n.,
—pl. -dels, -del.
a four-sided top bearing the Hebrew letters nun, gimel, he, and
shin, one on each side, used chiefly in a children's game
traditionally played on the Jewish festival of Hanukkah.
me•nor•ah
Pronunciation: (mu-nôr'u, -nOr'u),
—n.
1. a candelabrum having seven branches (as used in the Biblical
tabernacle or the Temple in Jerusalem), or any number of branches
(as used in modern synagogues).
2. a candelabrum having nine branches, for use on the Jewish
festival of Hanukkah.
Thoughts from Annie about Hanukkah:
When
I was about 6 years old we lived in the suburbs of Toronto. Our
neighborhood had a lot of Jewish families. To a child who
celebrate Christmas and only got presents that one day, eight
days of presents seemed pretty appealing. So I came home one day
from school and announced to my parents "I want to BE
Chanukah". Of course it should be "celebrate
Chanukah" and "be Jewish", but it was a cute story
nevertheless.
Generally speaking we consider Hanukkah a Jewish holiday. But we need to remember that Jesus was Jewish and He did partake of the feasts and fasts mentioned in the Old Testament. I know that it is not necessary to take part in them to be a Christian and of course we are not bound by the Law of the Old Testament because Jesus fulfilled that through his death and resurrection. Some will disagree with me but I do feel that it is important for use to learn about the Temple and the Feasts. We can learn so much from an extensive Bible study about them. You might consider doing a word study on "lampstand" and "candlestick". You can find the word "candlestick" 39 times but not menorah. As I have mentioned on other pages there are 7 major feasts in the Jewish faith. They have prophetic meaning and 4 of the 7 have been literally fulfilled in Jesus.
What does the Bible say about
Chanukah?
Hanukkah is not mentioned in the Old Testament by name but is
mentioned in the New
Testament. The word "Chanukah" is not in the Bible by
name but we do find
"The Feast of Dedication" which is the same thing.
Torrey’s Topical Textbook - Feast of Dedication, the
Smith’s Bible
Dictionary
Dedication, Feast of the:
the
festival instituted to commemorate the purging of the temple and
the rebuilding of the altar after Judas Maccabbeus had driven out
the Syrians, B.C. 164. 1 Macc. 4:52-59. It is named only once in
the canonical Scriptures. (John 10:22) It commenced on the 25th
of Chisleu (early in December), the anniversary of the pollution
of the temple by Antiochus Epiphanes, B.C. 167. Like the great
Mosaic feasts, it lasted eight days, but it did not require
attendance at Jerusalem. It was an occasion of much festivity,
and was celebrated in nearly the same manner as the feast of
tabernacles, with the carrying of branches of trees and with much
singing. In the temple at Jerusalem the "Hallel" was
sung every day of the feast.
Easton’s Bible
Dictionary
Dedication, Feast of the
(John 10:22,42), i.e., the feast of the
renewing. It was instituted B.C. 164 to commemorate the purging
of the temple after its pollution by Antiochus Epiphanes (B.C.
167), and the rebuilding of the altar after the Syrian invaders
had been driven out by Judas Maccabaeus. It lasted for eight
days, beginning on the 25th of the month Chisleu (December),
which was often a period of heavy rains (Ezra 10:9,13). It was an occasion of
much rejoicing and festivity.
But there were other dedications of the temple. (1) That of Solomon's temple (1 Kings 8:2; 2 Chr 5:3); (2) the dedication in the days of Hezekiah (2 Chronicles 29); and (3) the dedication of the temple after the Captivity (Ezra 6:16).
Related Pages
by Annie:
Annie's Feasts of the Bible Page
Annie's "Jesus-Messiah
the Fulfillment of Prophecy" Page
Annie's List of All Feasts of the
Bible Pages
Annie's "Jewish
Calendar Dates for 5762" Page
Annie's "Jewish Calendar Dates
for 5763" Page
Annie's "Jewish
Calendar Dates for 5764" Page
Hanukkah
Cards:
Send a Hanukkah Greeting to a friend!
Send a Happy Hanukkah Card; Judaism or Spirituality card!
From Annie's Card Shop
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