H A N U K K A H – The Festival of Lights

(photo © chabad.de)

From December 20 – 28, 2011, Hanukkah (Chanukah), also known as the Festival of Lights, will be celebrated by Jews around the world. It is an eight-day holiday that starts on the 25th of the month of Kislev according to the Hebrew calendar, which may occur at any time from late November to late December in the Gregorian calendar, and continues till the 2nd of the month of Tevet.
In Hebrew, the word Hanukkah is written חנֻכה or חנוכה, meaning „dedication“ or „consecration“. and is most commonly transliterated to English as Chanukah or Hanukkah.
The holiday commemorates the miracle that happened after the Jew’s 164 B.C.E. victory over the Hellenist Syrians. Antiochus IV, the Greek King of Syria who outlawed Jews, had forbidden the observance of Judaism under penalty of death and had forced Jews to worship Greek gods. After the victory, a Temple lamp has been lighted and although the lamp had oil for only one day, it stayed miraculously lit for eight days until a new supply of oil could be prepared. To commemorate this miracle, Hannukah is observed by lighting one Hanukkah light of the Menorah (candelabrum) on each of the eight holiday nights, progressing to eight lights on the final night of Hanukkah. Continue reading →

Advertisement