The Movement for Reform Judaism

Is Chanukah Biblically based?
The festival of Chanukah is not mentioned in the Torah, Prophets or writings. The festival is based on events described in a later collection of writings called the Apocrypha, specifically in the two books, Maccabees I & II. The books of the Apocrypha were rejected from the final version of the Hebrew bible in the first century CE but were later included in the Greek and Latin versions because of their popularity.

What is the story of Chanukah?
In 168 BCE , Antiochus, the leader of the Syrians sent an army to Jerusalem where they captured the Jewish Temple and turned it into a shrine to the Greek God Zeus. Antiochus ordered that Judaism was no longer to be practiced, Jews could either convert or be killed. Hannah and her seven sons were among those who chose death. but there was another way. A man named Mattathias lived with his five sons in Modi'in. When the Syrian soldiers came to the town and ordered the Jews to sacrifice to Zeus, Mattathias became so angry that he killed the Jew about to perform the sacrifice as well as one of the soldiers. He and his sons then fled to the hills with their followers and began a guerrilla war against the Syrians. Mattathias died soon after and his son Judah became the leader. Amazingly they won two battles and the Syrians retreated. On the 25th of the Hebrew month of Kislev, they re-dedicated the Temple and celebrated with an eight day festival.

What about the miracle of the oil?
The books of the Maccabees make no mention of the legend of the jar of oil. It is first mentioned in 500 CE in the Talmud, probably because the rabbis wanted to play down the military aspect of Chanukah. The legend tells that when the Maccabees recaptured the Temple, they found only one small jar of oil left to light the ner tamid (everlasting light). There was only enough oil to last one day, but the oil miraculously lasted eight days until more oil arrived.

Customs and Symbols
Chanukah commemorates the liberation of the Jews and is seen as a festival of freedom, often referring to oppressed people today.

	The menorah is a seven branched candlestick which was placed in the Temple, according to the description in the Bible. The menorah was taken by the Romans when they destroyed the Temple and this is depicted on the Arch of Titus in Rome. Today a menorah stands outside the Knesset (parliament) building in Israel and is the symbol of the State of Israel.
	The nine branched Chanukiah, an adaptation of the menorah, originates from the first century CE and has eight branches, one for each night of Chanukah and one for the shamash (servant light). It is customary to display the Chanukiah in the window for all to see. It should also not be used for any other purpose or work.

When do we light the candles?
The Talmud tells of a discussion that took place between Rabbi Shammai and Rabbi Hillel. Shammai said that all candles should be lit on the first night, decreasing by one on each of the eight nights and Hillel said we should begin with one and increase each night so increasing the joy of the festival. Hillel won the argument and so we light one candle on the first night and increase each night. The candles are placed in the Hanukiah from right to left but lit from left to right. We light the candles each night at sunset and on Shabbat (Sabbath) they are lit before the Shabbat candles.

What is the game of dreidel?
Dreidel is a Yiddish word which comes from the German meaning 'top'. The Hebrew word is sevivon. The game has its roots in a German gambling game and as Chanukah was one of the few times gambling was permitted to Jews, it became a tradition. Each side of the sevivon is inscribed with four Hebrew letters, nun (vowel is pronounced oo as in foot), gimmel hey and shin, which stand for the Hebrew words meaning 'a great miracle happened there'. Players put coins, nuts, matchsticks or other objects into a kitty and take turns spinning the sevivon. Each player acts according to the letter the sevivon lands on, each letter having a value, nun meaning take nothing, gimmel meaning take everything, hey meaning take half and shin meaning put in.

Why do we eat latkes on Chanukah?
Tradition tells us that food cooked in oil should be eaten at Chanukah, to remember the miracle of the oil. Latkes (potato pancakes) and doughnuts are the usual Chanukah foods.

Giving gifts on Chanukah
Recently it has become the custom to give gifts on Chanukah, often one on each night of the holiday. An older custom is to give money, called Chanukah gelt to children on the holiday. The giving of gifts is not a major feature of the holiday.

Ma-oz Tsur
This is the traditional song sung on the holiday after the blessings for the candles are said. It is a European melody composed in the 12th or 13th Century CE. It describes events in Jewish history that required God's intervention to save the Jewish People.

The Legend of the Oil
A long time ago in the land of Israel, the Jewish people were ruled by Antiochus, king of the Syrians. He refused to let the Jews practice their religion. This angered the Jews and a man called Mattathias killed a soldier and fled to the hills with his sons and his followers. Mattathias died and his son Judah Maccabee led the Jews in fighting bravely against the Syrians. Even though they were outnumbered they eventually beat the Syrians and recaptured Jerusalem where the Temple stood. When they entered the Temple they found a mess. The Syrians had destroyed almost everything and set up an idol to the Greek gods. In the Temple was the everlasting light which was supposed to burn constantly and never go out. It needed special oil. Judah and his followers could only find one tiny jar of oil and this was only enough to burn for one day. Judah sent his fastest rider to get some more oil, but even so it took eight days for him to return. Each day they would enter the Temple to find the everlasting light still burning, much to their surprise. In fact it stayed alight for eight days until the new oil arrived. The Temple was then re-dedicated on the 25th of the Hebrew month of Kislev, with much rejoicing and is remembered each year in the festival of Chanukah



Chanukah blessings
Candles

We light the candles, the servant candle and one more each day until all the candles are lit on the eighth day to symbolise the miracle of the oil. On the first day the servant candle is lit and after the blessings are said, it is used to light the first candle which is placed in the extreme right of the chanukiah. Then Ma-oz Tsur is sung. The procedure is the same for the second day when the first and second candles are placed from the right of the menorah, but lit from the left (newest candle first).

Blessed are You, Eternal our God, ruler of the universe, who makes us holy through doing his commands and commands us to light the Chanukah candles.

Baruch atah adonai elohainu melech ha-olam, asher kidishanu b'mitzvotav v'tzivanu
lehadlik ner shel Chanukah.

Blessed are You, Eternal our God, ruler of the universe, who performed wonders for our ancestors in the days of old at this season.

Baruch atah adonai elohainu melech ha-olam, she'asah nisim l'avotaynu bayamim hahem bazeman hazeh.

This material has been taken from the Kesher Festival Books produced by LBC-CJE's Department of Education and Professional Development with their kind permission.

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