Hi welcome to our Chanukah page. I enjoy learning about other
peoples way of celebrating holidays. So please pull up a chair and check out
some of the links. They sure answered alot of questions for me!
Chanukah: Dedicated Tradition
Chanukah is a celebration of the Jewish Maccabees over the Greek-Syrian army
in 165 B.C.. When a 1 day supply of sacred oil kept the eternal flame
alight for eight days. This miracle of oil and the gift of independence
are remembered today in many of the symbols and customs of Chanukah. The
most visable symbol of Chanukah is the menorah. It holds 8 candles, each
one representing one day that the oil lasted. For each night of Chanukah,
one candle is lit to represent the miracle. The driedel is another
framiliar Chanukah icon. Originally, dreidel was a gambling
game. Traditionally, Chanukah was the only time of the year when rabbis
allowed their congregation to play games of chance. Each side of the four
sided top was etched with a rule of the game. Over the years, those
gambling instructions were interpreted to stand for "Nes Gatol Hayah Sham"
or "A great miracle happened here." A playful game of chance was reborn
as an activity with religous significance. The winner of the game of
dreidel might get a package of gelt{money}. These little gold wrapped
coins signify Jewish independence.
FOLLOW THE LINKS TO RECIPES, GAMES AND EXPLANATIONS
