Happy Hanukkah 2020
The eight-day Jewish celebration known as Hanukkah or Chanukah commemorates the rededication during the second century B.C. of the Second Temple in Jerusalem, where according to legend Jews had risen up against their Greek-Syrian oppressors in the Maccabean Revolt. Hanukkah, which means “dedication” in Hebrew, begins on the 25th of Kislev on the Hebrew calendar and usually falls in November or December. Often called the Festival of Lights, the holiday is celebrated with the lighting of the menorah, traditional foods, games and gifts.
History of Hanukkah
The events that inspired the Hanukkah holiday took place during a particularly turbulent phase of Jewish history. Around 200 B.C., Judea—also known as the Land of Israel—came under the control of Antiochus III, the Seleucid king of Syria, who allowed the Jews who lived there to continue practicing their religion. His son, Antiochus IV Epiphanes, proved less benevolent: Ancient sources recount that he outlawed the Jewish religion and ordered the Jews to worship Greek gods. In 168 B.C., his soldiers descended upon Jerusalem, massacring thousands of people and desecrating the city’s holy Second Temple by erecting an altar to Zeus and sacrificing pigs within its sacred walls.
The Hanukkah “Miracle”
According to the Talmud, one of Judaism’s most central texts, Judah Maccabee and the other Jews who took part in the rededication of the Second Temple witnessed what they believed to be a miracle. Even though there was only enough untainted olive oil to keep the menorah’s candles burning for a single day, the flames continued flickering for eight nights, leaving them time to find a fresh supply. This wondrous event inspired the Jewish sages to proclaim a yearly eight-day festival. (The first Book of the Maccabees tells another version of the story, describing an eight-day celebration that followed the rededication but making no reference to the miracle of the oil.)
Hanukkah Traditions
The Hanukkah celebration revolves around the kindling of a nine-branched menorah, known in Hebrew as the hanukiah. On each of the holiday’s eight nights, another candle is added to the menorah after sundown; the ninth candle, called the shamash (“helper”), is used to light the others. Jews typically recite blessings during this ritual and display the menorah prominently in a window as a reminder to others of the miracle that inspired the holiday.
In another allusion to the Hanukkah miracle, traditional Hanukkah foods are fried in oil. Potato pancakes (known as latkes) and jam-filled donuts (sufganiyot) are particularly popular in many Jewish households. Other Hanukkah customs include playing with four-sided spinning tops called dreidels and exchanging gifts. In recent decades, particularly in North America, Hanukkah has exploded into a major commercial phenomenon, largely because it falls near or overlaps with Christmas. From a religious perspective, however, it remains a relatively minor holiday that places no restrictions on working, attending school or other activities.
Hanukkah 2020 will begin in the evening of
Thursday, December 10
and ends in the evening of
Friday, December 18
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Hatikvah
Barbra StreisandAs long inside our hearts
כֹּל עוֹד בַּלֵּבָב פְּנִימָהA Jewish soul still yearns,
נֶפֶשׁ יְהוּדִי הוֹמִיָּה,And onward toward the East,
וּלְפַאֲתֵי מִזְרָח קָדִימָה,Looking towards Zion;
עַיִן לְצִיּוֹן צוֹפִיָּה;
We have not lost hope yet,
עוֹד לֹא אָבְדָה תִּקְוָתֵנוּ,The hope is two thousand years old,
הַתִּקְוָה בַּת שְׁנוֹת אַלְפַּיִם,To be a free people in our land,
לִהְיוֹת עַם חָפְשִׁי בְּאַרְצֵנוּ,The land of Zion and Jerusalem
אֶרֶץ צִיּוֹן וִירוּשָׁלַיִם -
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Happy Hanukkah to all.
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Iris Apfel fur baby.
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To all our friends in the HSN Community Happy Hanukkah.
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Sevivon, Sov, Sov, Sov
Sevivon, sov, sov, sov
Hanukkah, hu hag tov
Hanukkah, hu hag tov
Sivivon, Sov, sov, sov.Hag simkha hu la’am
Nes gadol haya sham
Nes gadol haya sham
Hag simkha hu la’am
S’vivon spin and turn
While the colorful candles burn
What a marvelous holiday
As we all sing and dance and play
Tell the story, say the prayers
A great miracle happened there
It’s the festival of light
For eight whole days and eight whole nights.
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JERUSALEM OF GOLD – Naomi Shemer
The mountain air is clear as wine
And the scent of pines
Is carried on the breeze of twilight
With the sound of bells.And in the slumber of tree and stone
Captured in her dream
The city that sits solitary
And in its midst is a wall.Chorus:
Jerusalem of gold
And of copper, and of light
Behold I am a violin for all your songs.How the cisterns have dried
The market-place is empty
And no one frequents the Temple Mount
In the Old City.And in the caves in the mountain
Winds are howling
And no one descends to the Dead Sea
By way of Jericho.Chorus:
But as I come to sing to you today,
And to adorn crowns to you (i.e. to tell your praise)
I am the smallest of the youngest of your children (i.e. the least worthy of doing so)
And of the last poet (i.e. of all the poets born).For your name scorches the lips
Like the kiss of a seraph
If I forget thee, Jerusalem,
Which is all gold…Chorus:
We have returned to the cisterns
To the market and to the market-place
A ram’s horn calls out on the Temple Mount
In the Old City.And in the caves in the mountain
Thousands of suns shine –
We will once again descend to the Dead Sea
By way of Jericho!
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Happy Hanukkah.
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Your story of Miracle of Lights celebration with your family truly filled my heart.
How lovely your memory of a wonderful time with your family is, so descriptive and
heartwarming. Thank you so much for sharing that with me/us.Enjoy Hanukkah this year, presents do not make it ‘special’, as you pointed out so beautifully… FAMILY DOES!
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Happy Hanukkah
Hanukkah 2020 will begin in the evening of
Thursday, December 10
and ends in the evening of
Friday, December 18 -
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Smoked Sturgeon Stuffed Latkes,
Kumquat Preserves, Beet-Horseradish Sour Cream & Granny Smith Apple Sauce.-
Marc Cohn – Ma’oz Tzur (rock Of Ages)
Rock of Ages let our song
Praise (your) saving power;
Thou amidst the raging foes;
(You were) our sheltering tower
(Our sheltering tower).Rock of Ages let our song
Praise Thy saving power;
Thou amidst the raging foes;
(You were) our sheltering tower
(Our sheltering tower.)Furious they assailed us,
But thine arm availed us,
And Thy word broke their sword,
When our own strength failed us.And (your) word broke their sword,
When our own strength failed us.Children of the (Wanderers)
Whether free or fettered
Wake the echoes of the songs
Where ye may be scatteredYours the message cheering
That the time is nearing
Which will see all men free
And tyrants disappearing(Hope will see all men free,
And tyrants disappearing)
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I always loved all the Jewish Holidays! These photos remind me of how fun it was as a child. I Have 4 sisters and we got a bigger gift the first night and smaller gifts all the rest of the nights. I love my latkes with apple sauce.
Happy Hanukkah to you all!
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THANK YOU – the photos are really beautiful. I enjoyed them. Though I just get ONE gift as an adult – the days of 8 were loads of fun.
The gifts were small trinkets but made the festival of lights so deLIGHTful!-
Hi karen16. I also remember celebrating Hanukkah at an early age. We all used to gather at our grandparents home on a Sunday when no one worked and there was no school. We would arrive an hour or so before sunset in order to light the Menorah and sing. Of course, I always mouthed the words since my singing was “offkey” and would make everyone lose it as well. We all received many presents that day from our cousins and aunts and uncles, grandparents and of course our parents. My dad would take movie pictures with those old fashioned big lights on a long electrical beam with the camera taking center stage. To this day I have not found those movies or the camera he used. But even so the memories will linger forever in my heart.
Grandma would start baking goodies about a week prior to our get together. Our favorite, of course were the homemade potato latkes with homemade applesauce/sour cream. My mother would only allow me to have one. Grandma used to watch and when no one was looking would take me by the hand and brought me into the kitchen where there were more latkes still in the oven. I had more than one. Yes, she also made a complete dinner and grandpa during the meal would hand out silver dollars to each of his grandkids, and there were many. At least 12 of us.
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12.18.20 5:52 PM
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