A Message From The Rebbetzin

Although Chanukah is not mentioned in the feasts of Vayikra (Leviticus) 23, it is mentioned in the Brit Chadashah in Yochanan 10:22-23: "Then came Chanukah in Yerushalayim.  It was winter, and Yeshua was walking around inside the temple area, in Shlomo's colonade."

There are eight days to Chanukah. This feast begins on 25 Kislev each year.  This year it falls on December 19th (Erev Shabbat - at sundown) and ends on December 27th (Shabbat - at sundown). We light a candle each night on our chanukiah's (a menorah with 9 candles). We light each of the eight candles with the Shamash (the servant) candle.  We liken the Shamash candle to Yeshua as He is the light of the world. The candles are placed right to left and lit left to right.  We eat sweet and oily foods. The sweetness is for the victory and reclaiming of the Temple as told to us in the Book of Macabees as well as the one day of oil  lasting for eight days, a miracle! Potato latkes or potato pancakes are one of the traditional foods. We serve them with apple sauce and/or sour creme.  Soufganyot (jelly donuts) are also traditional - in fact more Israeli than North American. They are fried and rolled in sugar with strawberry or raspberry filling. We give out to the children gold coins called Gelt in Yiddish. They are chocolate coins in gold paper and they are yummy. The children play with a small top called a Dreidel.

They say that Yeshiva students, as they were studying Torah in the  time of the Macabee’s  would sit on their seferim, their books, and begin to play dreidel when the soldiers would come into  their presence.  On the dreidel are four Hebrew letters: the letters stand for this Hebrew phrase, "nes gadol hayah sham", a great miracle happened there. The letters are a "nun", a "gimmel", a "heh", a "shin".  When you play, play with M&M's or almonds... Nun - nothing, Gimmel - all the goodies, Heh - half the goodies, Shin - you must add a goodie to all the other goodies - do not gamble with money!  Gift giving was not an early tradition but through time and commercial effect gifts evolved. As a small child I received a token of my parents love on each night of the feast.  We rarely received anything large like bicycles or the like but small and wonderful surprises.  

The blessings said while lighting the chanukah candles are as followed:  They all begin with:    

Baruch Atah HaShem, Eloheynu, Melech ha-olam (Blessed are you, L-rd, our G-d, King of the universe)