Hanukkah, the Jewish festival of lights, is celebrated for eight days in November or December. This year, the eight-day festival is coinciding with Christmas. The festival begins on December 24, i.e. on Christmas Eve.
Hanukkah begins on the 25th day of Kislev month in the Hebrew calendar. This means that the festival of lights can fall either in November or December month of the Gregorian calendar. The eight-day festival is marked with exchanging gifts, eating special foods and rekindling an ancient menorah (nine-branched lamp).
Here are some interesting facts about Hanukkah, the festival of lights:
- Hanukkah is called the festival of lights because of a miracle that happened after the Maccabees liberated the Temple in Jerusalem. The legend has it that the menorah was needed to be lit every night, but they had oil that was only sufficient for a day. However, the oil lasted for eight days due to some divine intervention.
- During these eight days, Jews burn the menorah lamp from left to right.
- It is said that during Hanukkah, people in Israel eat oily doughnuts, marking the miracle of the oil.
- During this festival, children play with dreidel – a popular four-sided toy – which is an important symbol for the Hanukkah period. Each side of the toy is marked with four Hebrew letters – Nun, Gimel, Hei and Shin – which means a great miracle happened here.
Here are a few best quotes and sayings to share with your loved ones on Hanukkah:
"Eight days the light continued on its own: A miracle, they say, but not more so Than ordinary lives of flesh and bone, Consuming wicks burned ashen long ago" —Nicholas Gordon
"Blessed is the match consumed in kindling flame. Blessed is the flame that burns in the secret fastness of the heart" —Hannah Senesh
"To me every hour of the light and dark is a miracle; Every cubic inch of space is a miracle." —Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass
"Just as a candle cannot burn without fire, men cannot live without a spiritual life." – Buddha
"A candle is a small thing. But one candle can light another. And see how its own light increases, as a candle gives its flame to the other. You are such a light. -- Moshe Davis
"Kindle the taper like the steadfast star ablaze on evening's forehead o'er the earth, and add each night a luster till afar an eightfold splendor shine above thy hearth. -- Emma Lazarus
"Birds sing after a storm; why shouldn't people feel as free to delight in whatever remains to them?" -- Rose Kennedy
"On Hanukkah, the first dark night, Light yourself a candle bright. I'll you, if you will me invite to dance within that gentle light." – Nicholas Gordon, poemsforfree.com
"The darkness of the whole world cannot swallow the glowing of a candle."—Robert Altinger
