2. A Little Bit of History…
• The Jewish holiday Hanukkah is
also called the Festival of Lights.
• Antiochus, king of Syria and his
army killed many people and
destroyed the Jewish temple.
• They stole a holy lamp, called
the Menorah. The lamp's flame,
which always burned brightly,
went out.
3. Maccabees to the Rescue!
• Mattathias and his sons wanted to
fight to take back the Temple.
• Mattathias became sick. He
named one of his sons, Judah the
Maccabee, as the new leader.
• The Maccabees fought their
enemy until the Jewish people
were free.
• The people cleaned the temple
and repaired the menorah.
• The oil that was supposed to only
burn for one day instead burned
for eight!
4. How is Hanukkah Celebrated?
• Every year at the time of the
Maccabees victory, Jewish people
celebrate.
• Candles are lit at sundown for eight
nights in a row. Menorahs have nine
branches; the ninth branch is for
the shamash, which is used to light
the other eight candles.
• Three special prayers are said over
the candles.
5. What Else do People do on
Hanukkah?
• People eat potato latkes or
sufganiyot, which are both oily
treats.
• Fried foods are associated with
the holiday, since it was oil that
kept the sacred fire burning.
• Latkes are eaten by
Ashkenazi Jews
• Sufganiyot are eaten by
Sephardic Jews
6. • Children play dreidel games.
• A dreidel is a four sided top
with a letter on each side.
• Some people claim that the
dreidel game originated
when Jewish children were
not allowed to study Torah.
• If an official came along,
they would quickly pull out
these toys and appear to just
be playing a game.
7. Fun Hanukkah Facts!
• Unlike most spelling words
you remember from school,
Hanukkah can be correctly
spelled many different ways,
including:
• Chanukah
• Chanukkah
• Hanukah.
8. Fun Hanukkah Facts!
• Hanukkah is called a festival
and not a holiday because it
is meant to be celebrated.
• It is one of the only Jewish
celebrations during which
Jewish People are not
required to go to
Synagogue.
9. Fun Hanukkah Facts!
• Unlike most of the holiday
stories, the story of Hanukkah
is not mentioned in the Torah
(the Old Testament).
• The events that led up to the
holiday happened after the
Torah period in 164 B.C.E.
10. Fun Hanukkah Facts!
• Hanukkah starts on the 25th
of the month of Kislev.
• Because the Hebrew
calendar is lunar rather than
solar, it can fall anywhere
from November to early
January on the standard
calendar.
• There are 12 months in the
Jewish calendar, except
every 4th year when there are
13!
11.
12. Fun Hanukkah Facts!
• Gift–giving is not traditionally
associated with Hanukkah.
• At most a small amount of
money or a sweet would be
given to children.
• As Hanukkah became more
popular in the U.S. and
Canada, the idea of 8 nights
of gifts grew in acceptance.
13. Fun Hanukkah Facts!
• The 9-branched candelabra
that holds the Hanukkah
candles is called a
Hanukkiah.
• Many people call it a
Menorah, but a menorah
actually has 7 branches and
is associated with the
Temple.
14. Fun Hanukkah Facts!
• On the first night, the Shamash plus one
other candle are lit. On the second night,
the Shamash plus two candles are lit and
so on through the 8 nights.
• It takes 44 candles all together to observe
all the nights of Chanukkah.
• Once they are lit, the candles may not be
used for any other purpose, such as
lighting other candles or reading. And
they must burn for at least a half an hour.
15. Hanukkah Songs
There are many traditional
songs for the festival of
Hannukah including this one- Who can retell the things
that befell us, who can
count them?
Mi Y’malel In every age a hero or
sage came to our aid
Who can retell the things
Mi y'malel g'vurot Yisrael that befell us, who can
Otan mi yimneh? count them?
Hein b'khol dor yakum hagibor, go-el In every age a hero or
ha-am. sage came to our aid
Mi yemalel g'vurot Yisra-el
Otan mi yimneh? Hear! In days of yore in
Israel's ancient land
Hen b'khol dor yakum hagibor, go-el Maccabeus led the
ha-am. faithful band
Now all Israel must as
Sh'ma! Ba-yamim ha-heim ba-z'man one arise
hazeh Redeem itself through
Maccabee moshiya u'fodeh deed and sacrifice
U'v'yameinu kol am Yisrael
Yitacheid yakum l'higa-el.
