GOLDEN VALLEY, Minn. — Sunday marked the first night of Hanukkah — the Festival of Lights in Jewish tradition.
The eight-day observance goes through Monday, Dec. 6. To give a lesson about Hanukkah to those who might not be familiar with the holiday, we asked Rabbi Marcia Zimmerman to teach us Hanukkah 101.
"Happy Hanukkah" is the most traditional greeting here in the West, and it's perfectly fine to say to a Jewish person — even if you aren't Jewish.
With the greeting out of the way, we move on to the meaning.
"The elevator Hanukkah speech...," said Zimmerman. "In 163 BCE, approximately, there was a band of Jews called the Maccabees, which means hammer, and they went from Modi, which is outside of Jerusalem to the Temple in Jerusalem, the Second Temple that stood in Jerusalem, to reclaim Judaism."
And when the Maccabees won that night, and drove the Greek-Syrian rulers out of Jerusalem, they rededicated the Second Temple.
"They rededicated it, which is what Hanukkah the word means, 'dedication,'" Zimmerman said.
To do that, they needed to illuminate the lights.
"The Maccabees came into the Second Temple and there was only enough oil for one day to light the lights that were traditional... — but low and behold, that one vial of oil, that miracle that lasted eight days, and therefore, Hanukkah is eight days," Zimmerman said.
It is always in the area of very late November to late December that we mark those eight days. The holiday does vary year to year as the lunar calendar — where Judaism bases its time — doesn't match the Gregorian calendar.
And Hanukkah is old: As you'll recall, the Maccabean revolt was in 163 BCE. It was hundreds of years after that, that some of the symbols you may know were ushered in.
"The menorah did not come into the symbolism of Hanukkah until about 400 years after the Maccabees won that battle," Zimmerman said.
The menorah is where we place our candles.
On the first night, the first candle is lit, adding one each night until we get to eight — nine, counting the candle we use to light them each night.
But why the menorah?
"First century, when the menorah was created by the rabbis, they instructed people to put it into the window so everyone could see that this house was celebrating Hanukkah," Zimmerman said. "At about an hour after sunset — at that point people are leaving the market, and more people were on the street."
It was placed in the window to be seen by as many people as possible, which gets to a deep meaning of the holiday: to show the world we are proud to be Jews.
Now onto the fun and games: Why do Jews play Dreidel?
"We play this for a variety of reasons," Zimmerman said. "One is, as the lights are illuminated, we aren't supposed to talk about anything other than Hanukkah and the miracle of Hanukkah...and so the game was this great opportunity to play the game to remember the miracle."
The game also passes the time for families gather around the lights together.
We share this Hanukkah 101 as an offering of knowledge, so we all understand each other's celebrations and traditions in this season of light.