Happy Hanukkah to All!
Friday, December 19, 2003 by Larry Kuperman | Discussion: WinCustomize Talk
Tonight marks the start of the Hanukkah holiday, a festival lasting eight nights. Each night an additional candle is lit on the Mennorah, Hanukkah being the festival of lights.
Hanukkah celebrates the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem. In 168 BCE (Before the Common Era) an army of Hellenistic Syrians invaded and conquered Israel. The Syrian king, Antiochus, decreed that everyone had to adopt the customs of Greece. He outlawed the practice of Jewish rituals, even the observance of Sabbath and worshiping in the Temple. The Greeks used the Temple as a shrine to worship Zeus. Jews were forced to worship idols and to eat forbidden pork. A rebellion ensued, led by an elderly priest named Mattathias and his five sons. They took the name Maccabee, which means Hammer. In a climactic battle outside the city of Jerusalem the Jewish army, outnumbered and for the most part lacking in armor, defeated the larger Syrian army.
Tradition has it that when the Jews reclaimed the Temple and began the cleansing, they found the golden Menorrah broken. (A Menorrah is a candle holder with a central candle that is used to light eight additional candles.The Mennorah in the Temple was the Eternal Light and never allowed to go out.) Even after repairing the Menorrah, there was only enough purified oil to last for one night. It would take eight days for more purified oil to be brought to the city. Somehow, however, the oil lasted eight days!
So the Hanukkah holiday celebrates two things: The victory over the Syrians and the Miracle of the Oil. At Hanukkah, children spin Dreidels. The four letters on the Dreidel stand for the Hebrew words that mean "A great miracle happened there." (In Israel, Dreidels are different, with the letters standing for "A great miracle happened here.")
To me the Hanukkah holiday has always been about a people refusing to bow before the will of a tyrant, resisting oppression.
If you would like to see a Dreidel or have one spinning on your desk, you can download one from the DesktopX section here. AlexG made it at my request! Happy Hanukkah!
Hanukkah celebrates the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem. In 168 BCE (Before the Common Era) an army of Hellenistic Syrians invaded and conquered Israel. The Syrian king, Antiochus, decreed that everyone had to adopt the customs of Greece. He outlawed the practice of Jewish rituals, even the observance of Sabbath and worshiping in the Temple. The Greeks used the Temple as a shrine to worship Zeus. Jews were forced to worship idols and to eat forbidden pork. A rebellion ensued, led by an elderly priest named Mattathias and his five sons. They took the name Maccabee, which means Hammer. In a climactic battle outside the city of Jerusalem the Jewish army, outnumbered and for the most part lacking in armor, defeated the larger Syrian army.
Tradition has it that when the Jews reclaimed the Temple and began the cleansing, they found the golden Menorrah broken. (A Menorrah is a candle holder with a central candle that is used to light eight additional candles.The Mennorah in the Temple was the Eternal Light and never allowed to go out.) Even after repairing the Menorrah, there was only enough purified oil to last for one night. It would take eight days for more purified oil to be brought to the city. Somehow, however, the oil lasted eight days!
So the Hanukkah holiday celebrates two things: The victory over the Syrians and the Miracle of the Oil. At Hanukkah, children spin Dreidels. The four letters on the Dreidel stand for the Hebrew words that mean "A great miracle happened there." (In Israel, Dreidels are different, with the letters standing for "A great miracle happened here.")
To me the Hanukkah holiday has always been about a people refusing to bow before the will of a tyrant, resisting oppression.
If you would like to see a Dreidel or have one spinning on your desk, you can download one from the DesktopX section here. AlexG made it at my request! Happy Hanukkah!
joetheblow
Reply #4 Friday, December 19, 2003 10:22 PM
Reply #4 Friday, December 19, 2003 10:22 PM
ahhh... now I know why my place of work was closed.
Happy Hanukkah
Happy Hanukkah
paxx
Reply #5 Saturday, December 20, 2003 12:29 AM
Reply #5 Saturday, December 20, 2003 12:29 AM
I love history of traditions. Thank you Larry, and Happy Hanukkah to you. And don't let Brad oppress you too much.
Jafo
Reply #6 Saturday, December 20, 2003 12:34 AM
Reply #6 Saturday, December 20, 2003 12:34 AM
Happy Hanukkah, Larry...
Jafo reminds himself he better drop in on his mate Gabriel and wish him likewise...
adni18
Reply #7 Saturday, December 20, 2003 1:03 PM
Reply #7 Saturday, December 20, 2003 1:03 PM
Very educational story Larry, thanks
Happy Hanukkah to you!
Happy Hanukkah to you!
UBoB
Reply #8 Saturday, December 20, 2003 7:44 PM
Reply #8 Saturday, December 20, 2003 7:44 PM
Baruch atah Adoinai Eloheinu Melech ha-olam, asher kid’shanu b’mitzvotav, v’tzivanu l’hadlik ner shel Hanukkah.
Baruch atah Adoinai Eloheinu Melech ha-olam, shed’asah nisim l’avoteinu be-yamim ha-hem u’vaz-man ha-zeh.
(sorry for the transliteration, but this messageboard doesn't support Hebrew letters)
Happy Hanukkah Larry.
Oh, and here is a little gelt:
http://www.free-graphics.com/clipart/Money/Dollar_-_Framedtn_.jpg">
[Message Edited]
Baruch atah Adoinai Eloheinu Melech ha-olam, shed’asah nisim l’avoteinu be-yamim ha-hem u’vaz-man ha-zeh.
(sorry for the transliteration, but this messageboard doesn't support Hebrew letters)
Happy Hanukkah Larry.
Oh, and here is a little gelt:
http://www.free-graphics.com/clipart/Money/Dollar_-_Framedtn_.jpg">
[Message Edited]
UBoB
Reply #9 Saturday, December 20, 2003 8:07 PM
Reply #9 Saturday, December 20, 2003 8:07 PM
Oh well, that link didn't work. It was a picture of some money...you get the idea.
Big Doug
Reply #10 Saturday, December 20, 2003 9:47 PM
Reply #10 Saturday, December 20, 2003 9:47 PM
Happy Chanukah to you as well.
Let's play some Dradle.
Let's play some Dradle.
BoXXi
Reply #11 Sunday, December 21, 2003 1:00 AM
Reply #11 Sunday, December 21, 2003 1:00 AM
Have a good time Larry......My best wishes to your family too.
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Reply #1 Friday, December 19, 2003 9:10 PM
I learned most of that back in shcool (I went to a Catholic high school and elementary school and had to take religion), but I never knew that was the reason for Hanukkah. Thanks