- By Dan Veaner
- Around Town
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Thanksgiving offers thanks a good harvest. Hanukkah offers thanks for a miracle that God performed in the 2nd century BC. When Seleucid soldiers (a Hellenistic state) took and desecrated the second Holy Temple in Jerusalem, a group of Jews led by Judah Maccabee revolted. The Maccabees became notorious for guerrilla tactics that eventually won back the temple, establishing Jonathan Maccabee as high priest.
The temple menorah, a symbol of eternal enlightenment, had six arms with a seventh in the center that represented the light of God. But the temple was a mess and the Maccabees found only one small jug of uncontaminated oil, enough to light the menorah for one day. The miracle Hanukkah celebrates is that it stayed lit for eight days until a new supply was obtained.
Hanukkah is often mistaken for a major holiday because it so frequently takes place around Christmastime. In fact Hanukkah is not an important holiday as Christmas is. It is regarded by Jews largely as a children's holiday, not a major holiday like the High Holy Days Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year) and Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement).
Christmas gift-giving tradition migrated into the Jewish celebration because of the coincidence of the two holidays falling around the same time. Hanukkah gelt, usually coins of small denominations (and today chocolate coins wrapped in foil), has traditionally been given to children at Hanukkah, but in the late 19th century the overwhelming influence of Christmas prompted Jewish families to give gifts as well.
Hanukkah is celebrated on each of its eight nights with a prayer and lighting of the candles. The Hanukkah menorah has eight arms -- one for each day of Hanukkah -- plus a shorter one for the shammus, the worker candle. On the first night the shammus is lit and then used to light one candle. On the second night the shammus is used to light two candles, and so on until the eighth sundown when all the candles are lit. While lighting the candles a prayer explains that God has commanded Jews to light the candles of Hanukkah to celebrate the miracle He performed for their ancestors, and thanks God for sustaining them.
Another thing Thanksgiving and Hanukkah have in common is food. Lots of it, and really tasty. Jews favor oily foods like potato latkes (pancakes) and jelly doughnuts that commemorate the oil of the Hanukkah miracle.
Why does Hanukkah (and all the other Jewish holidays) move around the calendar so much? Started in 3760 BC, the Jewish calendar has only 354 days in a year normally made of 12 months, based on 29.5 day lunar cycles. Jewish months have either 29 or 30 days each. Jewish days begin at sundown, which means that holidays also start at sundown.
The names or the months are not anything most Americans would recognize: Nissan, Iyar, Sivan, Tammuz, Av, Elul, Tishri, Cheshvan, Kislev, Tevet, and Adar make up most years, with Adar I -- an additional 30-day month -- inserted before Adar on leap years. Cheshvan and Kislev may be 29 or 30 days long, depending on the year. Hanukkah takes place on the 25th day of Kislev every year.
Hanukkah is a joyful family holiday. The traditions of candle lighting, a filling meal and the retelling of the Hanukkah miracle resonate well with the traditions of Thanksgiving. Even if we have to wait another 78 millennia for the holidays to converge again, yesterday was certainly a special day, especially for Jewish Americans, who had twice as much to be thankful for.
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