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Hanukkah
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Hanukkah is a Jewish holiday that is celebrated every year between late November and late December. Alternate spellings for Hanukkah include Chanukah and Chanuka.
The word Hanukkah means "dedication" in Hebrew. It comes from the Hebrew verb khanakh, meaning to dedicate or consecrate. The "Festival of Lights," as it is often called, commemorates the rededication of the temple in Jerusalem in the second century BCE, after a victorious revolt against a foreign king.
Hanukkah is a celebration that lasts for eight days and nights, in memory of the one-day supply of oil that is said to have burned miraculously for eight days at the temple rededication. The first day of Hanukkah always begins on the 25th day of the Hebrew calendar month of Kislev. Because the Hebrew religious calendar is lunar-based, Hanukkah begins 11 days earlier each year. In 2011, Hanukkah begins at sundown on December 20 and ends on December 28.
During Hanukkah, Jews celebrate the religious freedom won by their ancestors over 2000 years ago by lighting the candles of the menorah, a special nine-branched candelabrum. They also eat traditional foods such as latkes (potato pancakes) and play a game of chance using a four-sided spinning top called a dreidel (also spelled dreidl).
Now that you've read this article, test yourself by trying our quiz Hanukkah Vocabulary.
