Hey there! Today, we’re going to learn about a special holiday called Hanukkah. It’s a Jewish holiday with a cool story about a menorah, which is a special candle holder. Let’s dive in and find out more!
During the holiday season, people celebrate in many different ways. There’s Christmas, Kwanzaa, and Hanukkah, which is also known as the Festival of Lights. Hanukkah means “dedication” in Hebrew, and it’s a time for fun, family, and lights!
You might see Hanukkah spelled in different ways, like with an “H” or “CH,” but it’s always pronounced the same: Ha-nu-kah! Try saying it with me: Ha-nu-kah!
Hanukkah lasts for eight days and can happen anytime from late November to late December. This is because the Jewish calendar follows the moon, so the dates change each year.
A long time ago, in the second century BC, the Jewish people lived in a place called Judea. They were ruled by a king named Antiochus IV, who was not very nice. He tried to change their temple into a place for his own gods, which upset the Jewish people.
A brave group called the Maccabees, led by Judah Maccabee, fought back and won! They wanted to light the menorah in their temple, but there was only enough oil for one night. Amazingly, the oil lasted for eight nights, which is why Hanukkah is celebrated for eight days!
Lighting the menorah is a big part of Hanukkah. It has nine candles, with one called the “shamash” or “servant candle,” used to light the others. Each night, one more candle is lit until all eight are glowing brightly.
Hanukkah is filled with fun activities! People eat yummy foods like latkes (potato pancakes) and sufganiyot (jelly donuts), both fried in oil to remember the miracle of the oil. There’s also a game called dreidel, a spinning top with Hebrew letters that stand for “A great miracle happened here.”
During Hanukkah, people often give and receive gifts, one for each night of the holiday. They also enjoy chocolate coins called gelt.
Hanukkah is a time for family, friends, and fun. People sing songs, read stories, and share blessings. Even though it’s not as religiously important as some other holidays, it’s a wonderful time to celebrate the strength and perseverance of the Jewish people.
Many people around the world, including about 15 million Jews, celebrate Hanukkah. That’s a lot of menorahs, dreidels, and delicious food!
Thanks for learning about Hanukkah with us! We hope you enjoyed discovering this special holiday.
Menorah Crafting: Create your own menorah using materials like paper towel rolls, construction paper, and glue. Decorate it with colors and designs you like. Each day, you can add a paper “flame” to represent lighting a candle. This activity helps you understand the importance of the menorah and the tradition of lighting candles each night of Hanukkah.
Dreidel Game Exploration: Make your own dreidel using clay or cardboard. Once it’s ready, play the dreidel game with your family or friends. Pay attention to the Hebrew letters on the dreidel and learn what each one stands for. This will help you connect with the cultural aspect of Hanukkah and understand the significance of the game.
Oil Experiment: Conduct a simple experiment to understand the miracle of the oil. Fill a small dish with water and add a few drops of oil. Watch how the oil floats and discuss why oil was important in the Hanukkah story. This hands-on activity will help you grasp the concept of the oil lasting for eight nights and why it’s celebrated with foods fried in oil.
Sure! Here’s a sanitized version of the transcript:
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What is Hanukkah for kids?
Hey kids! In this video, we’re going to learn about the Jewish holiday called Hanukkah: how it started, what it is, and why it’s celebrated. Let’s find out the story behind the menorah!
During what we call the holiday season, there are many different celebrations, usually accompanied by gifts and parties, and a week off from school. Admit it, that last part was your favorite! But there are many ways that people celebrate the holiday season.
There’s the Christian celebration called Christmas, the African American holiday known as Kwanzaa, and the Jewish celebration known as Hanukkah, which is also referred to as the Festival of Lights, the Feast of the Maccabees, or sometimes even the Feast of Dedication. In fact, Hanukkah means “dedication” in Hebrew.
You may have noticed there are different ways to spell Hanukkah. Sometimes it’s spelled with an “H,” sometimes with a “CH,” and sometimes with two “K’s.” But no matter how you spell it, it’s always pronounced the same way: Hanukkah! Say it with me: Ha-nu-kah!
Hanukkah is celebrated over eight days, unlike Christmas, which falls on December 25th. The eight days of Hanukkah can happen anywhere from late November to late December, depending on the cycles of the moon. That’s right—the moon determines when Jewish people celebrate their winter holiday because the Jewish calendar is lunar, meaning it follows the various stages of the moon.
While Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ, Hanukkah has a different reason for existing. Broadly, Hanukkah reaffirms the ideals and beliefs of the Jewish religion, developed by the ancient Hebrew people. In Judaism, there is one God who has revealed Himself to Abraham, Moses, and other Hebrew prophets. The religion follows the scriptures from the Old Testament of the Bible, and other Jewish laws can be found in the Torah and the Talmud, which are the main religious texts of the faith.
Judaism is considered an expression of the Covenant that God established with the children of Israel, or the ancient Hebrew people. While Judaism has many rituals and beliefs, and there are several holidays throughout the year—including Passover, Rosh Hashanah, and Yom Kippur—Hanukkah holds a special place for Jews as it commemorates a particularly difficult time in Jewish history.
It all started in the second century BC when the Jews rose up against their oppressors in what was called the Maccabean Revolt. The Maccabees were a group of Jewish warriors led by a priest named Mattathias and his five sons. At that time, the Jewish people lived in a land called Judea, also known as Israel, and they were ruled by Antiochus IV, the king of Syria.
Antiochus IV ordered his soldiers into the city to kill thousands of people and destroy the Jewish people’s Second Temple. In its place, they erected a temple to the Greek god Zeus and sacrificed pigs inside of it, which was deeply offensive to the Jews. The Maccabees, led by Mattathias and his brothers, led a rebellion against Antiochus IV. When Mattathias died two years later, his son Judah Maccabee took over the rebellion and drove the Syrians out of Judea.
After their victory, the Second Temple was rebuilt, and a large candelabrum with seven branches was placed in the temple. This candelabrum was known as a menorah. When they lit the menorah, they thought there would only be enough oil for it to burn for one night, but according to the Talmud, the oil miraculously burned for eight nights!
Because the oil burned for eight nights instead of one, it gave the Jews in Jerusalem enough time to find a fresh supply of oil. This amazing event inspired the elders to proclaim an eight-day holiday to commemorate the burning of the menorah oil.
Lighting the menorah is a large part of the celebration of Hanukkah. This family is lighting the shamash, also known as the servant candle. This ninth candle on the menorah is called the servant candle because it’s used to light the other eight candles, one for each night of Hanukkah.
There are different theories about how Hanukkah started. One theory suggests that Hanukkah was a delayed celebration of Sukkot, a seven-day Jewish celebration involving feasting, prayer, and festivities. When they finally celebrated, it became Hanukkah.
Whichever theory you believe, Hanukkah is a fun-filled eight nights of eating good food, gathering with family, and lighting up the night sky with interesting-looking menorahs. Nowadays, people who celebrate Hanukkah use candles, with one placed in each of the eight arms of the menorah.
During Hanukkah, it’s typical for candles to be lit from right to left, which is the same way that Hebrew is written. As the candles are lit, blessings are said to express the meaning of the holiday. Menorahs used to be placed outside the home when lit, but eventually, they were moved inside for safety.
One of the most famous Hanukkah events occurs each year in Israel: the annual relay from Modiin to Jerusalem, featuring runners carrying burning torches to the streets until the final runner reaches the Western Wall, also called the Wailing Wall. When the torch carrier gets to the wall, he hands his torch to the chief rabbi, who then uses it to light the first candle on a giant menorah.
The celebration also involves singing hymns, reading scripture, and offering blessings, in addition to almsgiving, which is the practice of giving money or food to the poor.
In addition to lighting the menorah every night for eight nights, other Hanukkah traditions include cooking and eating latkes and sufganiyot, which are potato cakes and donuts fried in oil to remember the oil that burned for eight days. There are also games associated with Hanukkah, such as spinning the dreidel, a four-sided top with a Hebrew letter on each side. The four letters stand for the phrase “A great miracle happened here.”
It’s also typical to eat and give out gelt, which are chocolate coins, and of course, there are presents—typically one gift for each night of Hanukkah, totaling eight gifts, which are usually opened after lighting the menorah. This ritual of gift-giving likely started because Hanukkah is celebrated in countries that also celebrate Christmas, so it was borrowed from the Christian holiday.
Hanukkah also has a unique aspect associated with it: since the word means “education,” the Hanukkah celebration often involves rabbis and teachers imparting to students the strength and perseverance of the Jewish people reflected in the holiday.
All in all, Hanukkah is a holiday that many celebrate alongside their Christian friends because they both occur around the same time. However, Hanukkah is not as religiously significant as some other holidays, so people can still work and go to school during the holiday.
In Israel, there are about 6.5 million Jews, roughly the same number as in the United States. All told, there are about 15 million Jews worldwide who celebrate the Festival of Lights. That’s a lot of spinning dreidels, fried latkes, and burning menorahs!
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