Hanukkah is here! It started on Tuesday (December 12th), and it will end on Wednesday (December 20th). If I'm honest, I don't celebrate Hanukkah, but I love learning about different cultures and religions. For me, I didn't know much about Hanukkah growing up. All I knew, was that it was a Jewish holiday in December, and that candles were involved. I didn't really know the reason why Hanukkah was celebrate nor did I know the reason for the candles, and why there was only eight of them. I didn't know why the dates for Hanukkah were different every year. So, I decided to do some research to learn more about the holiday.

Hanukkah or Chanukah, is an eight day long celebration. It all started back in 200 B.C. in Judea which is modern day Israel.

During this time, Judea was under Syrian rule. Antiochus III, the king of Syria, allowed Jews to openly practice their faith, but when his son Antiochus IV Epiphanes came to power, that was over. He didn't allow Jews to practice their faith at all. Instead, the king wanted the Jews to worship Greek gods instead.

In 168 B.C., Antiochus IV Epiphanes sent soldiers to Jerusalem, and they killed thousands of people. They didn't stop there. They went to Second Temple, and replaced it with an alter for the god Zeus (In Greek mythology, Zeus is the god of sky. Also, he's the ruler of the Olympian gods), and sacrificed pigs on the alter.

In return, a rebellion broke out against Antiochus. The rebellion was led by Mattathias, a Jewish priest, and his five sons. Two years later, in 166 B.C., Mattathias died, and his son Judah Maccabee took over as leader. The Jewish people and the Syrian soldiers fought for another two years. By 164 B.C. the Syrians were driven out of Jerusalem making the rebellion a success.

After all was said and done, the Second Temple to its original state.

As they were doing so, Judah and his followers witnessed a miracle happen. A Menorah, a seven-lamp (six branches) lamp stand made of pure gold, continued to be lit for eight nights even though there was only enough to keep the candles burning for one day. This gave them enough time to get more untainted olive oil for the candles.

This is how Hanukkah came to be. Hanukkah, in Hebrew, means "dedication".

In Hanukkah tradition, there is a nine branch menorah which is called hanukiah in Hebrew. You've probably seen the nine branch menorah at some point in your life time. During the celebration, people add a candle each night after sundown. The shamash, which means helper, is a ninth candle that lights the other candles. A ritual is perform where Jews will recite blessings.

For food, everything is fried in oil. Below is some dishes that people eat during Hanukkah.

Latkes

There are different flavors for this potato pancakes such as butternut squash, spicy spaghetti squash, smoked salmon, sweet potato, and Malaysian Nutty. Sour Cream and/or applesauce are common toppings.

Matzo Ball Soup

Mazto Balls are light and fluffly. They are put in chicken broth, and the balls absorb it.

Challah

Challah is a round egg-based bread that doesn't have butter or milk.

Sufganiyot.

Sufganiyot are round, deep fried doughnuts with powdered sugar and jelly in the middle.

All of this looks really good, and it's making me hungry!

During Hanukkah, people also play with dreidels which is a four sided spinning top. In Hebrew, dreidel is called sevivon which means "to turn around". Each side of the dreidel has a hebrew letter on it. The wording on the dreidel says; "Nes gadol haya sham" which means "A great miracle occurred there."

In Israel, it's a little different. Peh replaces the fourth letter in shin. So, instead, it says; "Nes gadol haya po" which means; "A great miracle occurred here."

The rules of Hanukkah are:

1. There is an unlimited number of people that can participate in this game.

2. At the start of the game, each player gets the same amount of game pieces which is around 10 to 15. These game pieces can be pretty much anything. For example, coins or raisins.

3. Each round starts off with a player putting a game piece into the center. When the center is empty, or has one game piece left, every player has to put one game piece in the center. There always has to be more than one piece in the center at all times.

4. When its your turn, you spin the dreidel. You either get or give them away game pieces from the center depending on the side that lands.

For Nun, the word means nothing. So, if you land on Nun, you don't get anything.
For Gimel, the word means everything. If you land on Gimel, you get everything that is in the center.
For Hey, the word means half. If the number of game pieces is even then you get exactly half of whats in the center. If it's odd, the player takes half plus one.
Lastly, for Shin, the word means put in. You don't want to land on Nun, but you really don't want to get this one. If you land on Shin, you have to add game pieces to the center.

5. If you lose all your game pieces, there are two ways this can play out. You can ask a player that is still in the game for a loan. If they do, you're still in the game. If they don't, you're out.

6. The game is over when one player has won everything.

Other Hanukkah traditions is people exchange gifts similar to what people do on Christmas.

The reason why Hanukkah is always a different date is because the Jewish calendar is lunar-solar. A solar calendar is when people use the position of the Earth as it goes around the sun while lunar calendar uses the lunar phases for dates. So, the Jewish calendar uses both. Hanukkah is celebrated in the Jewish month of Kislev. Compared to our calendar, Kislev can start between November 3 and December 2. So, Hanukkah can start between November 28th and December 27th.

Sources: History Channel. mJL (rules of Dreidel). Why Hanukkah and Thanksgiving Will Never Again Coincide. Huffington Post. (dates)

I hope that you have learn something new about Hanukkah like I have.

And to all celebrating Hanukkah, I hope you have a great celebration!