For many of us, the Christmas season is one of the most special and long-awaited celebrations, which is why we learn interesting facts about its history and the traditional ways of celebrating it. However, at Christmas time Jews have a very special celebration, known as Hanukkah or Hanukkah. At Supercurioso we want to feed your curiosity towards the diversity of traditions and beliefs, and since we have already told you about what Kwanzaa is, In this article we will tell you everything about what Hanukkah is.
Festival of the Luminaries, What is Hanukkah?
Hanukkah is one of the most important and joyous Jewish holidays. This is a celebration that lasts exactly eight days and eight nights. She commemorates the rebellion of the Maccabees against the Seleucid Empire, hand in hand with a miracle that occurred more than 2000 years ago.
The dates on which Hanukkah is celebrated vary each year, since it is based on the Hebrew calendar and it depends on the phases of the moon. However, this year the celebration It will take place between Sunday, December 18 and Monday, December 26.
Now, it is worth mentioning that the meaning of Hanukkah, in Hebrew, is rededicationsince it commemorates the rededication process of the sacred temple in Jerusalem.
1. Origin of the Hanukkah holiday
First of all, we must analyze what the word Hanukkah or Hanukkah means. The word Chanukah is compound: «Janu» What does it mean “they parked” (that is, they occupied the Temple) and “AC” it is a hebrew date. In other words, we can say that Chanukah can be translated as: “They parked on that date.”
To continue discovering what Hanukkah is, it is essential to go back to the origins of this celebration. According to Jewish tradition, It all started with a miracle that happened in Jerusalem over 2,000 years ago.
After the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC, a power struggle began between his generals and friends. The victory of this confrontation fell into the hands of the Seleucid kings.
However, his triumph was quite controversial, as the Empire sought to infuse Greek culture through Hellenization. Such was the desperation to achieve it that, in the year 175 BC, and after the coming to power of the King Antiochus IV Epiphanes, the Seleucids captured and desecrated the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, building an altar to the Greek god Zeus. All this hand in hand with actions of incredible mistreatment and violence towards the Jewish people.
Despite the horror and anguish, the Jews did not stand still. A priest (Matías) and his sons couldn’t take it anymore and they rebelled. Matías dies before achieving his mission, so he remains in the hands of his son Judah, the Maccabee. It was this man who led the people and who, after achieving multiple victories against the Empire, he managed to recover the Holy Temple, restoring it and handing it over to the traditional religion.
Now, when the Temple was rededicated to the Jewish god, the only thing the Seleucids left intact was a vial of oil. This vial burned for eight days, giving the Jews time to obtain more oil.. This miracle would be the beginning of the path towards what Hanukkah is.
2. Have fun and rejoice! How is Hanukkah celebrated?
Because the lamp that illuminated the Temple lasted eight days, when it only had oil for one, the main way in which this celebration is carried out is lighting the candles in a menorah. This is a candle holder that contains space for nine candles.
Each of the candles corresponds to a night of celebration, plus the ninth which is known as Shamash or servant. As the chandelier burns, special prayers are recited, accompanied by chants, such as the MaozTzur.
But the Hanukkah celebration does not stop there. Within the traditions of this time The exchange of gifts is traditional. The parents will give each night a small present to the little ones, usually chocolate coins or money.
It also gets used to play dreidel. This is played with a spinning top or four-sided top, each of which contains a letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The goal is to build an acronym that says “a miracle happened here.”
3. The Hanukkah meal
Food is not left out of this special celebration, so, in order to answer what Hanukkah is, we must talk about its traditional dishes. The most typical dishes of the time are the sufghaniot (fried dough stuffed with jam), the latkes (grated potato and egg cakes) and the rugelach (half moon cookies).
By way of conclusion, it is important to emphasize that, although Hanukkah is celebrated in what is considered the Christmas season for Christians, it is not valid to say that this commemoration is “Jewish Christmas”.
As you could have realized, the celebration is born from important events of the Jewish tradition, which is why it constitutes the reflection of the struggle of a people to recover and recover, to return to its essence and keep it alive throughout history.
We hope you learned a lot about what Hanukkah is and enjoyed it as much or more than we did. Before you go, do not hesitate to tell us what you find most interesting about this celebration and what other information you know about it that you think is relevant, we want to hear from you soon!