Everything You Need to Know About Hanukkah

It's that time of year. Snow is starting to fall. Stores are preparing for a big end of year rush. People are either stringent in saying 'Happy Holidays' or railing against the use of 'Happy Holidays'. Ah, Hanukkah and Christmas overlap again this year. So what is Hanukkah?

It takes place on the 25th of Kislev according to the Jewish calendar. So each year it changes on the Gregorian calendar, sometimes overlapping with Thanksgiving and other times with Christmas.

Hanukkah is a holiday for the Jewish people commemorating a military victory. It doesn't appear in sacred text as it happened after the Torah was written. So it is essentially a Jewishly secular holiday. ... Think of it like the Jewish 4th of July.

Around 200 B.C., Judea came under the control of a Syrian empire. They ordered Jews to worship Greek gods, killed thousands in Jerusalem, and trashed the 2nd Temple--the holiest site in Judaism at the time (it was later completely destroyed and now sits under the Al-Aqsa mosque).

A large-scale multi-year rebellion broke out and--led by Judah Maccabee (“the Hammer”)--the Syrians were driven from Jerusalem. Judah called on his followers to cleanse the Second Temple, rebuild its altar and light its menorah. These were acts of rededicating the Temple.

Even though there was only enough olive oil to keep the menorah’s candles burning for one day, the flames continued flickering for eight nights. This 'miracle' inspired the holiday.

But modern historians offer a different theory. They posit that many Jews did begin following the Greek gods under Syrian rule while others fought for their tradition. So the real fight was between these two factions they say. Either way, Maccabee--and non-assimilation--prevail.

Regardless of the reality behind the holiday, it's a time of triumph, feasting, and festivity. Traditions include eating oily, fried foods; lighting a special menorah or 'Hanukkiah'; and playing a spinning top game called dreidel with gelt or gold coins (now chocolate 'gold').

Hanukkah is a minor holiday. But in the last 15-20 years in the U.S. in particular, marketing firms have pushed for it to be a more commercial holiday of gift giving akin to Christmas. The holidays have nothing in common however and traditional Hanukkah gifts were usually small.

So rest assured that the holiday isn't important on the Jewish calendar and most families mark it with minimal fanfare. It's not a big deal. Commercialism and associative timing with Christmas is really the fuel lighting up this festival of lights.