Happy Hanukkah!

lookingglass

lookingglass

TCS Member
Thread starter
Top Cat
Joined
May 24, 2006
Messages
11,090
Purraise
4
Location
On the 12th floor
Tonight at sunset Hanukkah starts, and I hope that all that celebrate have a wonderful time with family and friends!

and
to all of you.
 
carolpetunia

carolpetunia

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Oct 25, 2005
Messages
9,669
Purraise
17
Location
Plano, Texas
Happy Hannukah! Now help me remember... is this the holiday that involves the question, "Why is this night different from all other nights?" And is this when you set a place at the dinner table for... oh gosh, I'm sorry, the spiritual presence of someone whose name starts with an E, I think...?

I'd love it if some of our Jewish members would talk about how the holiday is celebrated and maybe share some pictures, for those of us who aren't familiar!
 
J

judi

TCS Member
Adult Cat
Joined
Sep 25, 2007
Messages
232
Purraise
1
Location
earth
Originally Posted by lookingglass

Tonight at sunset Hanukkah starts, and I hope that all that celebrate have a wonderful time with family and friends!

and
to all of you.
Click to expand...
It lasts for 8 days.
 
Anne

Anne

Site Owner
Staff Member
Admin
Joined
Oct 23, 2000
Messages
40,210
Purraise
6,104
Location
On TCS
Originally Posted by CarolPetunia

Happy Hannukah! Now help me remember... is this the holiday that involves the question, "Why is this night different from all other nights?" And is this when you set a place at the dinner table for... oh gosh, I'm sorry, the spiritual presence of someone whose name starts with an E, I think...?

I'd love it if some of our Jewish members would talk about how the holiday is celebrated and maybe share some pictures, for those of us who aren't familiar!
Click to expand...
I think you're confusing Passover and Hannuka there
Passover is when you have a mega feast (well, some other holidays have that too, but not Hannuka actually), you ask that question in a special song and you set an empty chair for the Prophet Elijah.

Hannuka is when you light candles in the Menorah. I can share how it's celebrated here in Israel, but I do believe Jewish Americans have slightly different customs.

Here, we just gather around in the evening (it's still work days, no Sabbatical - but no school for the kids at least some of the days). We light one candle in the Menorah the first day, two candles the second day and so on, until you light all eight candles on the 8th day. You say a special prayer and there's lots of Hannuka songs to be sung around the candles. Traditionally, you eat big round Hannuka donuts and latkes which here are usually made of potatoes. Fried and oily is the general theme, in memory of the oil that was found and could light the Temple for 8 days. Fortunately, my kids like neither dishes, so we are all spared the extra calories
Oh, it's also traditional to play with dreidels during this holiday. Some pretty cool ones from China in the market, lots of lights and music. Fortunately, they tend to break real quick


In Israel, we don't give gifts on Hannuka. I think that's an American tradition, probably borrowed from Christmas. There is a tradition of giving kids a little bit of money though, and some parents replace that with a special gift.

ETA - I'll make a Hannuka post on my blog, hopefully tomorrow, with some pics from home and from the kids' school celebrations.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top