Hanukah 5763

Chag sameach!

Chanukah, the Jewish Festival of Lights, is observed for eight days, beginning on the evening of the 25th day of the Hebrew month of Kislev. This year Chanukah starts at sundown, Friday, November 29 (candle lighting before Shabbat candle lighting) and lasts for eight days thru Friday night, December 6th, 2002.

Chanukah is a holiday of renewed dedication, faith, hope and spiritual light. It's a holiday that says: "Never lose hope." Chanukah recalls the struggle for religious freedom and commemorates the victory of the Jews over the Hellenistic Syrians in the year 165 B.C.E. The slogan of the Jewish fighters was: Who is like you among the gods, O Lord (mi kamocha ba'elim hashem), a Hebrew acrostic for the word Maccabee.

The Jews fought heroically. This was a war between unequal forces: few against many, unarmed peasants against a regular, trained army. Led by Judah Maccabee, the most famous of Mattityahu’s five sons, the Maccabees, a force much smaller than the powerful Greek armies, finally triumphed in 165 B.C.E. On the 25th of Kislev, the Maccabees reclaimed the Jewish Temple, which was, at that point, almost unrecognizable as a place of Jewish worship.

When the Jewish army wanted to rededicate the Temple, they were unable to find enough specially prepared oil to light the Menorah used in the Temple service. Finally, in one Temple chamber, the Maccabees found a single bottle of oil, which normally would have lasted only one night. However, by a miracle, the one bottle of oil lasted eight nights, until new oil, fit for Temple use, could be produced.

This is the miracle Jews commemorate to this day. By lighting the eight Chanukah lights of the menorah, Jews everywhere recount the triumph of our ancestors against immorality, the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem and the miracle that a one day supply of oil lasted eight days.

Below you will find links for a variety of Chanukah-related information. Enjoy and chag sameach!

Links for Chanukah-related pages on the USY website:

• Read Chanukah programs for your USY Chapter from the Online Program Bank, such as:

  - Hanukah Bingo
  - A Lonely Hanukah Candle in the Warsaw Ghetto

Links to outside sites:

• Chanukah at JTS
• Everything Jewish: Chanukah
• About Judaism: Chanukah
• Chanukah Worksheets and Activities
• Celebrate Chanukah - Traditions, Customs, and More