Jews of Eastern European (or Ashkenazi) origin eat latkes, fried potato pancakes. Sephardic Jews eat different varieties of deep-fried doughnuts. Greek Jews call them loukomades; Persian Jews refer to them as zelebi, while in Israel jelly doughnuts are wildly popular and known as sufganiot. It is also customary to eat dairy foods on Chanukah, in commemoration of the bravery of Yehudit, who used cheese to defeat the Greek general Holofernes. It is customary amongst Sephardic residents of Jerusalem to arrange communal meals during the eight days of Chanukah. Friends who quarreled during the year traditionally reconcile at these meals. Where does the name “Maccabee” come from? The name Maccabee may come from the Hebrew word for hammer, or for hitting. It is also an acrostic for Mi Kamocha Ba-Elim Hashem! (Who is like You among the mighty, O G‑d!) What does “Dreidel” mean? Dreidel is a Yiddish word which comes from the word drei, which means to turn, or spin. The dreidel is a speciallydesigned spinning top used for Chanukah games. What is a Dreidel? Dreidel is Yiddish for a spinning top. A dreidel is a pointed, four-sided top which can be made to spin on its pointed base. Dreidels are normally made of plastic or wood, though there are silver or glass “designer dreidels” available on the market, usually intended for display purposes. It is customary to play dreidel games on the holiday of Chanukah. There is a Hebrew letter embossed or printed on each of the dreidel’s four sides. These four letters form the acronym of the phrase Nes gadol hayah sham, “A great miracle 10
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happened there”—a reference to the Chanukah miracle that transpired in the Land of Israel. The dreidel, known in Hebrew as a sevivon, dates back to the time of the Syrian-Greek rule over the Holy Land—which set off the Maccabean revolt that culminated in the Chanukah miracle. Learning Torah was outlawed by the enemy, a “crime” punishable by death. The Jewish children resorted to hiding in caves in order to study. If a Greek patrol would approach, the children would pull out their tops and pretend to be playing a game. By playing dreidel during Chanukah we are reminded of the courage of those brave children. Is there any significance to the blue and white Chanukah candles? None whatsoever. Chanukah candles can be any color, shape or size (provided that they burn for the minimum half-hour, or one and a half hours on Friday night). The colored candles are apparently born of the desire to add an aesthetic touch to the holiday, and perhaps to make it more appealing to the children. And certain manufacturers decided to give Chanukah a unique color theme, too. The blue and white of the Israeli flag appealed to them, and thus the reason for the proliferation of blue and white Chanukah candles. In what order do we light the candles? On the first night of Chanukah, set one candle to the far right of the menorah. On the following night add a second light to the left of the first one, and then add one light each night of Chanukah—moving from right to left. Each night, light the newest (leftmost) candle first, and continue lighting from left to right. In other words, we add lights to the menorah from right to left, and we light from left to right. What is the ninth candle for?
The ninth candle is called the shamash or “attendant” candle. It is used to light the other ones.