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Falling around wintertime each year, the holiday of Hanukkah is often positioned as the Jewish equivalent of Christmas. But apart from their approximate dates on the calendar (this year the two even overlap), and the modern tradition of gift giving, the two observances bear little similarity.
So, what is Hanukkah? Jews celebrate Hanukkah as an eight-day holiday that commemorates the rededication of the Holy Temple after the Jewish people reclaimed it from the Syrian-Greeks in the second century BCE. While they expected a small amount of oil to light the temple only briefly, it miraculously burned for a full eight nights. This makes Hanukkah both a historical observance as well as a spiritually significant one.
Also called the Festival of Lights in reference to the Hanukkah miracle of the long-burning oil, Hanukkah is celebrated by lighting a nine-flamed menorah (also called a hanukkiah), eating fried foods such as potato latkes and sufganiyot (a nod to the miraculous oil), and playing the Hanukkah game of dreidel (a spinning top with four sides).
“Hanukkah always coincides with the winter solstice,” Rabbi Jessica Minnen tells Woman’s Day. “It symbolizes the creation of light in the darkest times. Jewish holidays are all connected to the earth and the cycle of seasons."
Keep reading to find out more about the meaning of Hanukkah and how and when it’s celebrated.
When is Hanukkah 2022?
In 2022, Hanukkah begins in the evening on Sunday, December 18 and ends in the evening of Monday, December 26. Because the dates of the holiday correspond to the lunisolar calendar, they change each year. Typically, they fall in November or December.
History of Hanukkah
According to National Geographic, the Syrian-Greeks invaded the Jewish homeland and captured Jerusalem, where the Jewish Holy Temple was located. After the invasion, they attempted to force the Jewish people to forgo their religion and customs and adopt Greek beliefs instead. The Syrian-Greeks desecrated the Holy Temple and enacted laws forbidding the practice of Judaism.
“Imagine your town being taken over by people telling you that you can’t practice your faith anymore, that are trying to take away your identity. That’s what was happening to the Jewish people,” Minnen explains.
Rather than assimilate, the Jews rebelled against their oppressors. A tiny army of Jews, led by a man called Judah the Maccabee (the Hebrew word for hammer), fought back against the huge Syrian-Greek army, reclaiming both Jerusalem and the Holy Temple.
Hanukkah story
According to Jewish tradition, after the Jews won back Jerusalem, they found that the Temple had been destroyed. They began to clean it up and wanted to light the menorah (a seven-branched candelabrum used to light the Temple) to give sacred light to the restoration project. However, the oil used in the temple had to be a special, purified oil, and the Jews couldn’t find any. They finally found a tiny bit of oil that would be enough for one day. It miraculously lasted for eight days, which was just enough time to purify more oil to keep the Temple lit. Today, Hanukkah is also known as the Festival of Lights because it marks the celebration of that miracle.
Hanukkah meaning in Hebrew
The Hebrew word Hanukkah means "dedication," as the holiday commemorates the Jewish people's rededication to the Temple.
Minnen says that the spiritual significance of Hanukkah is that, like the Jews more than two thousand years ago dedicating themselves to restoring the Temple, Jewish people today also take time during the holiday to reflect on who they really are, and rededicate themselves to their faith.
How is Hanukkah celebrated?
Hanukkah is celebrated with the following Hanukkah traditions:
Lighting the Menorah
On the eight nights of Hanukkah, Jews light the menorah, adding an extra candle each night until there are eight candles on the last night. The modern menorah, which is also called a hanukkiah, is a candelabra meant to commemorate the menorah from the Holy Temple, but, as the Wall Street Journal notes, it has nine arms to accommodate the eight candles plus a shamash candle, which is the candle that is used to light other candles.
Eating Fried Foods
Minnen explains that “because of the miracle that happened with the oil, we celebrate by eating foods cooked in oil. The two most common are latkes, which are fried potato pancakes, and sufganiyot, which are fried jelly doughnuts.”
Playing Dreidel
“One of the Greek laws was to prohibit the Jews from studying Torah (the Old Testament). So Jews would have secret gatherings to study together,” Minnen says. “They took these spinning tops with them to study so in the event that a soldier walked by and peeked in the windows where they were, they would quickly shut the books and spin the tops so it would look like they were just playing a game.”
She says the spinning tops, or dreidels, became a symbol of resistance, and Jews kept the custom of playing dreidel on Hanukkah. Dreidels are marked with the letters for the Hebrew words "Nes Gadol Hayah Sham," which means "a great miracle happened there" (referring to Jerusalem). Playing dreidel is pretty simple. Each of the Hebrew letters has a different value assigned to it. Depending on which letter your dreidel lands on after you spin it, you win or lose different amounts of gelt, which can either mean real coins or chocolate coins wrapped in foil. The goal is to collect as much gelt as possible.
How can you participate this year?
Even if circumstances (including ongoing caution amid the pandemic) keep you away from celebrating with the larger community on a given year, there are still ways to get involved. “There’s a teaching in Judaism that tells us we should publicize the miracle of Hanukkah,” says Minnen. “This means lighting candles in front of a window to magnify the light for as many people as possible." And yes, if possible also "celebrating with big parties."
For people looking for a resource to give them a broader understanding of the holiday, Minnen recommends the short movie Lights on YouTube.
Alesandra is a digital travel and lifestyle journalist based in Los Angeles whose work has appeared in Good Housekeeping, Woman’s Day, Prevention, Insider, Glamour, Shondaland, AFAR, Parents, TODAY and countless other online and print outlets. Alesandra has a masters degree in journalism with an emphasis on cultural reporting and criticism from NYU, and a bachelor’s degree from UC Berkeley. An avid traveler, she trots the globe with her husband and their twins.
