🕎 Hanukkah 🌟
Dates, Rituals, History And How-Tos .
For Celebrating The Festival Of Lights
(VIDEOS)
By HuffPost Religion Editors
By HuffPost Religion Editors
Hanukkah, the Jewish Festival of Lights, is celebrated for eight days beginning at sundown on Dec. 16, 2014. On the Hebrew calendar, the dates are 25 Kislev to 2 Tevet in the year 5775.
An
eight-day celebration, Hanukkah commemorates the rededication of the
Second Temple in Jerusalem in the second century B.C.E. during the
Maccabean revolt against oppressive Greek rulers. Jews celebrate the
holiday by lighting a nine-branch candelabrum, commonly called a
menorah. (Technically, the candelabrum for Hanukkah is called a hanukkiah to distinguish itself from the seven-branch menorah used in the Temple and described in Exodus 25.)
The story of Hanukkah
is one of revolution and miracles: Greek influence over the Jews in the
Land of Israel had become an affront to Jewish culture and ritual.
Antiochus, the Greek ruler, forbade Jewish religious practice, so a
small group of Jews, the Maccabees,
revolted. These Jews eventually prevailed and, as a first order of
business, restored the Holy Temple, which had been desecrated. The
menorah in the Temple needed to be re-lit because, according to
tradition, it should burn continuously. The Temple liberators found one
vial of olive oil, enough for one day of light.
Miraculously, the oil
lasted for eight days.
Today, Jews everywhere light menorahs on each night of Hanukkah.
Traditionally, one candle or flame is lit for each night until the
eighth night, when all eight lights shine together. The menorah has a
ninth "helper" flame -- known as the shamash -- used to light
the other candles. This is necessary because in Jewish law the Hanukkah
lights' only purpose is to visually proclaim the miracle of the holiday.
Jews place the lit menorah in a prominent window in order to fulfill
this commandment.
Gift giving is now a common practice on
Hanukkah, and it is therefore a beloved time for many Jewish children.
Fried potato pancakes (latkes) and doughnuts (sufganiyot) are traditional fare, and a spinning top (dreidel) with four Hebrew letters has become synonymous with the holiday. The letters -- nun, gimel, hei, shin -- form an acronym for the message of Hanukkah: A great miracle happened there.
How One Jewish Environmental Activist
Found Inspiration In The Hanukkah Miracle
By Antonia Blumberg
Posted: 12/15/2014
The Hanukkah story is an account of a religious miracle, but in it
lies another important message -- one that is inspiring some Jewish
activists in their work for the environment.
Liya Rechtman, an
Eisendrath Legislative Assistant at the Religious Action Center of
Reform Judaism, is using the Jewish month of Kislev, which runs Nov. 23
- Dec. 22, to do a "Hanukkah Conservation Challenge," during which she will replace all of her incandescent light bulbs with energy efficient compact fluorescent bulbs.
The challenge is light-specific to highlight the miracle at the core of the Hanukkah story.
After years of battle between the Jewish Maccabees and the Syrian-Greek
army, the Maccabees finally defeated the last fortress and returned to
the Second Temple in Jerusalem. They had only enough oil to light the
temple for one day -- but it miraculously lasted for eight.
Rechtman writes in an article about her conservation challenge:
Hanukkah, which begins on 25 Kislev, puts light at the core of our celebration, reminding us on cold and dark winter days how integral light is in our Jewish tradition. By replacing our light bulbs, we can minimize the damage done to our earth when we use unnecessary energy to light our homes and uphold our Jewish obligation not to destroy our earth and not to waste its resources, bal taslich (Deuteronomy 20:19).
Hanukkah, which begins on 25 Kislev, puts light at the core of our celebration, reminding us on cold and dark winter days how integral light is in our Jewish tradition. By replacing our light bulbs, we can minimize the damage done to our earth when we use unnecessary energy to light our homes and uphold our Jewish obligation not to destroy our earth and not to waste its resources, bal taslich (Deuteronomy 20:19).
HuffPost Religion spoke with Rechtman to hear more about the Hanukkah Conservation Challenge and how others can get involved:
What inspired you to take on this challenge?
We were inspired to create the Monthly Green Challenge this year because it’s important to realize the ways that by slightly altering your lifestyle and daily routines one person can make a real impact on energy conservation. Our hope for the series is that others will join the challenge! So far I’ve gotten positive feedback from several readers.
How can the Hanukkah miracle translate into conservation work for Jews today?
The celebration of Hanukah connects well to themes of conservation. In the Hanukah story, the Maccabees have oil only enough for one day and are miraculously able to make it last for eight days. As helpful as a miraculous solution to the challenges of climate change would be, we can create our own miracle by reducing our use of non-renewable energy sources, specifically oil. We need to increase our usage of wind, solar and other cleaner energies if we are to save ourselves from the devastation of the climate change crisis.
Have you seen any synagogues or Jewish group taking on this challenge or doing other environmental work?
Many Reform Jewish synagogues and affiliated organizations, like our summer camps and youth groups, are doing environmental work. The Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism is partnering with an organization called GreenFaith to support our congregations in doing energy audits, making congregational spaces more energy efficient, and educating our community on environmental issues through worship services and programming. Some, like Temple Jeremiah in Chicago, are working on GreenFaith certification right now. In Boise Idaho, Congregation Ahavat Beth Israel runs a community garden for the local refugee congregations. Community gardens have become very popular among our congregations and summer camps, many of them donate the food they grow, working to protect the vulnerable within their communities at the same time that they are working to protect the earth.
We were inspired to create the Monthly Green Challenge this year because it’s important to realize the ways that by slightly altering your lifestyle and daily routines one person can make a real impact on energy conservation. Our hope for the series is that others will join the challenge! So far I’ve gotten positive feedback from several readers.
How can the Hanukkah miracle translate into conservation work for Jews today?
The celebration of Hanukah connects well to themes of conservation. In the Hanukah story, the Maccabees have oil only enough for one day and are miraculously able to make it last for eight days. As helpful as a miraculous solution to the challenges of climate change would be, we can create our own miracle by reducing our use of non-renewable energy sources, specifically oil. We need to increase our usage of wind, solar and other cleaner energies if we are to save ourselves from the devastation of the climate change crisis.
Have you seen any synagogues or Jewish group taking on this challenge or doing other environmental work?
Many Reform Jewish synagogues and affiliated organizations, like our summer camps and youth groups, are doing environmental work. The Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism is partnering with an organization called GreenFaith to support our congregations in doing energy audits, making congregational spaces more energy efficient, and educating our community on environmental issues through worship services and programming. Some, like Temple Jeremiah in Chicago, are working on GreenFaith certification right now. In Boise Idaho, Congregation Ahavat Beth Israel runs a community garden for the local refugee congregations. Community gardens have become very popular among our congregations and summer camps, many of them donate the food they grow, working to protect the vulnerable within their communities at the same time that they are working to protect the earth.
What stories, lessons or rhetoric do they use to inspire their congregations?
Congregations talk about environmental issues and Jewish values through a couple of different lenses. One of our central values is to pass on our tradition from one generation to another, from parents to children. In our text this is call l’dor v’dor, from one generation to the next. In the same way that we are taught to pass on our tradition, we also believe that we must pass on a heritable, viable earth to the next generation. We also often talk about the command to be environmental stewards, citing genesis 2:15, in which God tells Adam to “till and tend” the Garden of Eden. In the same way that Adam is commanded to till and tend the earth, we believe in protecting our earth.
Will you continue the challenge beyond this month?
The Monthly Green Challenge is actually something I have been writing every month, with challenges specifically related to that month. I wrote one for the month of Tishrei about recycling grocery bags (here) and one in Cheshvan about turning down your thermostat (here). So yes, the challenges will definitely continue past Kislev throughout the Jewish year! I’ll present – and try to live by – a new challenge each month.
Congregations talk about environmental issues and Jewish values through a couple of different lenses. One of our central values is to pass on our tradition from one generation to another, from parents to children. In our text this is call l’dor v’dor, from one generation to the next. In the same way that we are taught to pass on our tradition, we also believe that we must pass on a heritable, viable earth to the next generation. We also often talk about the command to be environmental stewards, citing genesis 2:15, in which God tells Adam to “till and tend” the Garden of Eden. In the same way that Adam is commanded to till and tend the earth, we believe in protecting our earth.
Will you continue the challenge beyond this month?
The Monthly Green Challenge is actually something I have been writing every month, with challenges specifically related to that month. I wrote one for the month of Tishrei about recycling grocery bags (here) and one in Cheshvan about turning down your thermostat (here). So yes, the challenges will definitely continue past Kislev throughout the Jewish year! I’ll present – and try to live by – a new challenge each month.
Read Rechtman's blog about her Hanukkah Conservation Challenge here.
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