Put on Your Yarmulke

By Sami Popol
5/8/2015

Did you know that each Hanukkah, 44 candles are burned over the
course of each individual celebration? Hanukkah is an important holiday in
the Jewish religion that is thousands of years old. It commemorates a
struggle for the religious freedom of the Jews. That struggle also happens to
be the first recorded struggle for religious freedom in human history. The
holiday is celebrated over eight days in December, which include singing,
prayers, candles, and games. An interesting religious history along with
festive celebrations and traditions are all elements to the Jewish holiday of
Hanukkah.
Two thousand years ago, the Jewish people were ruled by the King of
Syria, Antiochus Epiphanes, in their home country of Israel. They were forced
to pay tribute to the Greek gods. If they refused or practiced Judaism, they
would be killed. One day, the King had chosen the seven sons of a Jewish
woman named Hannah to publicly worship the Greek gods. He thought that a
public act of obedience to him by Jews would help to stop Jewish rebellions.
However, each of the boys refused, and were tortured and killed one at a
time in front of their mother. After Hannah had to watch her sons die, she
died of grief (Adler 2015).
Later on in the Kings rein of oppression, he sent soldiers through Israel
to help enforce Greek worship. Mattathias, an old Jewish priest, called to all
Jews to follow him to the hills. The rebellion against Antiochus Epiphanes had
begun, and it lasted for three years. It was the first time in recorded history
that people had fought for religious freedom. Antiochus Epiphanes deployed

hundreds of soldiers and many seasoned generals, but his army could not
manage to defeat the small population of rebellious Jews. Eventually,
Mattathias died and his son Judah the Maccabee took over the rebel efforts
(Adler 2015).
After a while, Jerusalem came under the control of the Jews. While
repairing the city, the Jews also cleaned out their temple. They searched the
temple for oil to light the eternal flame - the Menorah. They found enough oil
to keep the light burning for what they believed to be about one day.
However, the oil burned for eight days at which point the Jews had time to
make more oil. The Jews considered this a miracle, and it is celebrated each
year as the modern holiday of Hanukkah (Adler 2015).
Hanukkah lasts eight days, one for each day that the Menorah burned
when the Jews restored it. Each night, the Menorah is lit in the houses of
Jews. The menorah has nine small candle holders- one for another candle
each night, and one for the Shamash. The Shamash is lit first every night and
then used to light the other candles. The first night, one candle is lit with the
Shamash, the second two, the third night three, and so on. Each night, all of
the candles burn until they go out on their own. It is typical for the menorah
to be lit in a window, so that people passing by will remember the story and
the miracles of Hanukkah (Adler 2015).
Before the candles are lit each night, two traditional Jewish blessings
are said. They bless God in two different ways- the first being for

commanding us to light the Hanukkah menorah, and the second being for
doing miracles for our forefathers. On the first night of Hanukkah, an
additional blessing is said for thanking God for maintaining and sustaining
us to this season (Adler 2015). A Hebrew hymn called Maoz Tsur is sung
after the candles have been lit each night. Maoz Tsur is over 700 years old,
and it tells the story of the Jews going from Egyptian slavery to exile from
Babylon, to Antiochus Epiphanes and Haman. The song is about waiting for
the Messiah to keep the evil from them once and for all (Adler 2015).
Hanukkah is a time for food, much like other Jewish holidays. Many
typical Hanukkah foods are fried in oil as a reminder of the miracles that are
celebrated during the holiday. One of these foods is latkes. These potato
pancakes are often served with applesauce or sour cream. Another is jelly
doughnuts, sufganiyot. These delicious jelly doughnuts are made of light
dough fried in oil and then filled with jelly.
A Hanukkah staple not cooked in oil is chocolate gelt coins. They are
round pieces of chocolate covered in gold foil that look like coins. During a
game of Dreidel, gelt coins are used. Dreidel is a game played in the light of
the Menorah. The Dreidel game is played with a spinning toy with four sides.
Each side has a Hebrew letter on it. The four letters are nun, gimmel, heh,
and shin. Each of these letters is the first in each word of the Hebrew saying
nais gadol hayah sham. This translates to a great miracle happened
there. When you are in Jerusalem, the letter shin changes to peh, and the

fourth word changes to poh. This changes the saying to nais gadol hayah
poh, which then changes the meaning to a great miracle happened here.
Hanukkah is not a very important holiday in the Jewish religion.
Therefore, special clothing is not required. However, men often wear a
skullcap called a Yarmulke (Patal 2015). In the United States, Hanukkah has
become a bigger affair. This is probably because it is so close to Christmas.
Many Americans celebrate Hanukkah by giving gifts on one or all eight nights
of Hanukkah (Miller 2015).
There are several Hanukkah traditions that have been passed down
through many generations of Jews. Throughout Hanukkah, many games are
played, many foods are eaten, many songs sung, and many blessings said.
An interesting religious history along with festive celebrations and traditions
are all elements to the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah.

Works Cited
Adler, David A. "Hanukkah." Reviewed by Lawrence Grossman. The
New Book of Knowledge. Grolier Online, 2015. Web. 20 Apr. 2015.

Miller, Alan W. "Hanukkah." Encyclopedia Americana. Grolier Online,

2015. Web. 20 Apr. 2015.

Patal, Raphael. "Yarmulke." Encyclopedia Americana. Grolier Online,

2015. Web. 8 May. 2015.