Hanukkah, also known as Hannukah, is celebrated by Jews every year. Celebrations are held on Hanukkah, which coincides with December. Here are the curiosities about the 2022 Hanukkah Festival and its history.
Hanukkah, or the Feast of Lights, is a Jewish holiday that has been celebrated for 200 years in honor of the recapture of Jerusalem (Jerusalem) from the Seleucid Empire by the Jews in 2200 BC. It lasts for eight days and eight nights, starting from the 25th day of Kislev according to the Hebrew calendar. According to the Gregorian calendar, it occurs at the end of November at the earliest and in mid-December at the latest.
The festival begins with the lighting of candles from a nine-branched candelabra called a menorah (or hanukkiah). One branch is typically placed above or below the others, and one candle is used to light eight other candles. This particular candle is called shamash. Hanukkah sözcüIt means "to dedicate" in Hebrew. This holiday falls on the Gregorian calendar in December, the end of November, or very rarely the beginning of January.
The festival is celebrated by burning the arms of a 9-branched candelabra called Hanukkah, which resembles a Menorah and has two additional arms. One is burned on the first day and two on the second day, and it continues with the burning of one more arm every day during the feast. The arm in the middle of Hanukkah, which is higher than the others, is called Shamash and this arm is burned daily.
What Are Hanukkah Rituals?
Hanukkah is celebrated with a series of rituals that take place every day during the 8-day holiday, some done as a family and some as a group. Special additions are made to the daily worship, and a special portion is added to the after-meal thanksgiving. Hanukkah is not a "Sabbath-like" holiday and there is no obligation to abstain from the activities outlined in the Shulchan Aruch that are prohibited on the Sabbath. Religious people go to work as usual, but return home early in the afternoon to light the candles. There is no religious reason for schools to close, but despite this, schools close for Hanukkah celebrations for a week from the second day of Hanukkah in Israel. Many families give each other many small gifts, such as books or games. Fried dishes are eaten during Hanukkah celebrations to commemorate the importance of oil.
Lighting the Hanukkah Lights
For eight nights, a light for every night. In order to "beautify" the universally customary Mitzvah, the number of candles lit is increased by one per night. An extra light is lit every night in Shamash, and this light is in a different spot than the others. The peculiarity of this extra light is to indicate that its lights are prohibited from being used for any reason other than to reflect and contemplate the Hanukkah story. This is different from the candles used for lighting on the Sabbath. Therefore, if one needs extra illumination, he can use Shamash and avoid using forbidden lights. Some people use Shamash to burn first and then burn others. During Hanukkah, two more lights increase with Shamash and another light on the first night, three on the next night, and one more each night, up to 9 lights on the eighth night. On the eighth night, a total of 44 lights are turned on.
These lights can be candles or kerosene lamps. Electric lights are sometimes used in places where open fire is not allowed, such as a hospital room, and this is acceptable. Many Jewish homes have special candlesticks or special kerosene lamp holders for Hanukkah.
The reason why the Hanukkah lights illuminate the outside of the house rather than the inside is that the people passing by see this illumination and thus remember the miracle of this holiday. Accordingly, lamps are installed in windows facing the street or in places facing the door. While it is customary among Ashkenazim for each family member to have a separate Menorah, among the Sephardi a light is turned on for the whole house. These lights are kept secret from outside people only in the face of anti-Semitic attitudes, just as in Iran, which was under the rule of Zoroastrians at the time, in parts of Europe and in World War II. Like during World War II. In contrast, many Hasidic groups put the lamp inside the house right next to the door, which people do not necessarily have to see from the outside. According to this tradition, lamps are placed directly opposite the Mezuza so that when someone passes through the door they are surrounded by the holiness of the Mitzvah.
In general, women are exempt from time-bound orders, but the Talmud requires women to perform the Hanukkah lighting Mitzvah because they are also involved in the Hanukkah miracle.
Candle Lighting Time
Hanukkah lights should be on for at least an hour and a half after dark. Many Jerusalemites observe that the Vilna Gaon tradition is also the city's tradition, to turn on the light at sunset, whereas even in Jerusalem many Hasidics turn it on later. Many Hasidic clergy light the candles much later, because when they light the candles, they fulfill their obligation to spread the miracle by being Hasidic. The inexpensive candles sold for Hanukkah are lit for half an hour, so this requirement is met by lighting candles when it gets dark. But on Fridays a problem arises. Since candles may not be lit on the Sabbath, they are lit before sunset. By contrast, candles should always stay lit (half an hour after sunset), and inexpensive Hanukkah candles do not burn long enough to meet the requirement. As a solution to this, longer burning candles or traditional gas lamps are used. Following the above prohibition, the first Hanukkah menorah is lit, followed by Sabbath candles.
Thanksgiving Through Candles
In general, three thanksgivings are expressed during the 8-day feast. On the first night of Hanukkah, Jews say all three thanksgivings, but on the remaining nights they say only the first two. Thanksgiving is traditionally said before or after the candles are lit. On the first night of Hanukkah, a light is lit on the right side of the Menorah, followed by 8 nights, and every night another light is added next to the light on the first night, this can be a candle, gas lamp or electric lamp. Every night, the leftmost candle is lit first, starting from the left and continuing to the right.
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