Hanukkah

Hanukkah

Cultural Holidays investigates holidays all around the world! Each book brings the spirit of a holiday alive with colorful illustrations and provides clear facts about the holiday’s special traditions and history. Which holiday will you celebrate next?

Owens • Conger

Cultural Holidays

Hanukkah

Books In This Series Chinese New Year Christmas Cinco de Mayo

Hanukkah Kwanzaa Ramadan

by L. L. Owens illustrated by Holli Conger

Cultural Holidays

Cultural Holidays

Hanukkah

by L. L. Owens illustrated by Holli Conger Content Consultant: Dr. Pamela R. Frese Professor of Anthropology, College of Wooster

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visit us at www.abdopublishing.com Published by Magic Wagon, a division of the ABDO Group, 8000 West 78th Street, Edina, Minnesota 55439. Copyright © 2010 by Abdo Consulting Group, Inc. International copyrights reserved in all countries. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher. Looking Glass Library™ is a trademark and logo of Magic Wagon. Printed in the United States. Text by L. L. Owens Illustrations by Holli Conger Edited by Jill Sherman and Mari Kesselring Interior layout and design by Becky Daum Cover design by Becky Daum Special thanks to cultural consultant Rabbi David Nelson, PhD, Bard College, Annandale on Hudson, N.Y. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Owens, L. L. Hanukkah / by L.L. Owens ; illustrated by Holli Conger. p. cm. — (Cultural holidays) Includes index. ISBN 978-1-60270-603-3 1. Hanukkah—Juvenile literature. I. Conger, Holli. II. Title. BM695.H3O94 2010 296.4’35—dc22 2008050552

Table of Contents What Is Hanukkah? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Hanukkah’s Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Candles and Blessings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Celebrations Today . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 A Hanukkah Song . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 On the Web . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

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What Is Hanukkah? Each year Jewish people celebrate a festival called Hanukkah. It lasts eight days. Hanukkah begins on Kislev’s 25th day. Kislev is a month in the Hebrew calendar. Hanukkah usually happens in November or December on the Western calendar.

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Hanukkah is a time for honoring the Jewish faith. People light candles. They say special prayers. And they tell the story of Hanukkah. They also give gifts, help the needy, and enjoy holiday foods.

There are many different spellings for Hanukkah. Some people use Hanukka, Chanukkah, or Chanukah. Hanukkah is the most common English spelling.

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Hanukkah’s Story The story of Hanukkah happened more than 2,000 years ago. It took place in the land of Judea. Antiochus IV of Syria seized control of Jerusalem. He took over the Jewish temple. He ordered all Jews to give up their religion. He wanted them to honor Greek gods instead.

The ancient land of Judea is now known as Israel.

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The Jews wanted to worship their own God. So, they formed a small army. Judah Maccabee led the Jewish army. It was known as the Maccabees. The Maccabees battled Antiochus’s powerful army. The war lasted three long years. In 164 BCE the Maccabees finally won. This win is the first miracle of Hanukkah.

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The Jews quickly took back their temple. They cleaned it and prepared it for worship. In Hebrew, hanukkah means “dedication.” The Jews rededicated their temple to God. For eight days and eight nights they celebrated their religion. They sang, prayed, and feasted.

Because of Hanukkah’s Hebrew meaning, the holiday is sometimes called the Feast of Dedication.

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Why did the Hanukkah celebration last eight days? One story says that the Maccabees found a jar of oil in the temple. It was only enough oil to light the temple for one day. But a miracle caused it to last for eight days. Another idea is that the war had caused the Jews to miss Sukkot. Sukkot is an eight-day fall holiday. It honors the harvest. The Maccabees may have celebrated for eight days to make up for missing Sukkot.

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Candles and Blessings To honor Hanukkah, each Jewish home has a special candleholder. It is called a menorah. A candle called a shamash and eight other candles rest in the menorah. Each night of Hanukkah, an additional candle is lit using the shamash. Today, celebrations begin at sundown the first night of Hanukkah. That night, people say a prayer and use the shamash to light the first candle.

The Hanukkah menorah is sometimes called a Hanukkiah.

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shamash

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There are several rules Jewish people follow when lighting the Hanukkah candles. These traditions honor the holiday:

• The Hanukkah menorah should be placed in a doorway or a window. People outside the house should be able to see it. • All eight Hanukkah candles should be the same size. • The candle lighting happens at nightfall most days. On Fridays, the lighting should happen before sundown. • Light the shamash first. Then use the shamash to light the other candles. • Always place candles into the menorah from right to left. Always light them from left to right. • Let the candles burn for at least 30 minutes each night.

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Prayers are an important part of Hanukkah. Three blessings are used during the candle lighting. The first and second blessings are said every night of Hanukkah. The first blessing honors God and the candle lighting. The second blessing thanks God for helping the ancient Jews. The third blessing is only said on the first night. It thanks God for the gift of life and the chance to enjoy another Hanukkah season.

Hanukkah’s third blessing is:

Blessed are You, our Eternal God, Ruler of the universe, who has kept us alive, and has preserved us, and enabled us to reach this time.

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Celebrations Today Hanukkah is celebrated all over the world. In Israel, Hanukkah is a national holiday. Some people go to prayer services, parties, or plays. Each year a race is held in Jerusalem, Israel. Runners carry torches to the original temple site. The winner’s torch lights the shamash.

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At most parties around the world, children play a game after the Hanukkah candles are lit. They use a dreidel. A dreidel is a four-sided top. A letter is marked on each side of the dreidel.

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The letters stand for the Hebrew saying Nes Gadol Haya Sham. It means “a great miracle happened there.”

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A common Hanukkah gift for children is gelt, or money. Children are told to use the money for good. They might give it to the needy. Or, they might use it to do good deeds for neighbors and friends. Gelt can be handed out several times during Hanukkah. Each family has its own traditions. In place of real money, many children receive candy gelt. These are chocolate coins wrapped in gold foil. Some use the coins as tokens for a dreidel game.

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Fried foods are often served during Hanukkah. The frying oil represents the oil found in the temple. The most common foods are potato pancakes, or latkes, and jelly doughnuts, or sufganiyot. Many Jews eat dairy foods with Hanukkah meals. Dairy honors Judith, an ancient Jew. Judith saved her town from attack when she killed a Syrian general. Jewish people around the world celebrate Hanukkah with their traditions. Do you know any other Hanukkah customs?

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A Hanukkah Song Jewish people also sing songs to celebrate Hanukkah. “Oh, Hanukkah! Oh, Hanukkah!” is one popular song. “Oh, Hanukkah! Oh, Hanukkah!” Oh Hanukkah! Oh Hanukkah! Come light the menorah. Let’s have a party. We’ll all dance the hora. Spin the whirling dreidels All week long. Eat the sizzling latkes. Sing a happy song. Now light them tonight then, The candles all in a row. Tell the wondrous story of God and the glory, The wonders of long ago.

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Glossary blessing—a prayer of thanks. dedication—an act of setting aside an object or a place for a certain purpose. hora—a traditional dance of Israel. miracle—an amazing event. tradition—customs, ideas, and beliefs handed down from one generation to the next. Western calendar—the calendar used in the United States and throughout most of the world.

On the Web To learn more about Hanukkah, visit ABDO Group online at www.abdopublishing.com. Web sites about Hanukkah are featured on our Book Links page. These links are routinely monitored and updated to provide the most current information available.

Index Antiochus IV . . . . . . . . . . . . 8, 11 blessings . . . . . . . . . . . . 7, 16, 20 dreidel . . . . . . . . . . 24, 25, 27, 31 food . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7, 28, 31 gifts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7, 27 Hebrew . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4, 12, 25 Israel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8, 23 Judea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Judith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Maccabee, Judah . . . . . . . . . . 11 Maccabees . . . . . . . . . . . . 11, 15 menorah . . . . . . . . . 7, 16, 18, 31 oil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15, 28 shamash . . . . . . . . . . . 16, 18, 23 Sukkot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Syria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8, 28 temple . . . . . . . . 8, 12, 15, 23, 28