1. You think that Chanukah begins early this year? The truth is that the date of Chanukah is the same every year… in the Jewish calendar at least! It is always on the 25th day of Kislev. In fact, the name Chanukah can be divided in two; Chanu “they rested” and Kah in Hebrew has the numerical value 25 - an indication when the holiday begins.
2. That’s nice, but do you know what Chanukah actually means? The Hebrew word means dedication because after the victory of the Maccabees, they dedicated the Temple in Jerusalem. That’s when they couldn’t find enough oil to light the Menorah, what followed was miraculous, but first -
3. How did those fierce Jewish warriors (an oxymoron if we’ve ever heard of one!) get the name Maccabee? Their battle cry was “Mi Chamochah Ba’Ailim Hashem!” (“Who is like You among the powerful, O L-rd?” Exodus 15:11). The acronym of the Hebrew words spell Maccabee.
4. We celebrate Chanukah for eight days because the oil miraculously lasted eight days instead of one, right? Wrong!! If the oil was sufficient for one day, then the miracle is only seven days! The truth is that we celebrate for eight days, one for the miraculous victory and the rest for the miraculous oil. Click here for more explanations and here for a contemporary dramatization of some impressive esoteric ideas based on this question.
5. The original custom was to light one candle per night, it was considered an extra “beautification of the Mitzvah” to light more. Today everyone lights one on the first night and adds another each night. Do you think it may have been a candle making company involved in that decision?!
6. We’ve got it great - eight nights of gifts (as Adam Sandler sings). But did you know that gifts are not traditionally associated with Chanukah? The custom originated to give the children gelt or money. And the intended purpose? To educate them in giving tzedakah, charity.
7. Did you know that the Chanukah Menorah has a height limit? That’s right, 32 feet tall is the max! You see, the purpose of lighting the menorah is to publicize the miracle and the rabbis felt that if it were taller than 32 feet, it would diminish its effect to the extent that it wouldn’t be publicizing anything as no one would see it.
Do you know where the world’s tallest Menorah is? You guessed it - New York City! Actually, there are two - one in Brooklyn at Grand Army Plaza and one in New York City at Central Park. Click here for a short clip of other interesting Menorahs around the world.
8. Everyone knows that we eat oily foods on Chanukah to commemorate the miraculous oil but did you know there is also a custom to eat dairy foods too? Yes, it’s true! That’s because of a lesser known but equally amazing part of the story, including a Jewish widow and a Greek general, wine and cheese, seduction and decapitation. Click here to read the story.
8.5 Did you know that the premier Chanukah event in Sacramento will take place this year before Chanukah even starts? That’s right - this year’s Chanukah Wonderland event will be on Sunday, November 24th (that’s the Sunday before Chanukah, and Thanksgiving for that matter), at the Folsom Community Center. Click here for more info.