Hanukkah is a Jewish holiday which begins at sundown on the 25th day of Kislev on the Jewish calendar.  The Jewish religion follows the lunar calendar and that's why on our regular calendar, it falls on a different day each year.  This year, it begins on Friday, December 15, 2006(at sundown, of course!).

Hanukkah is a Hebrew word which means "rededication".  Hanukkah was born out of a specific, historically recorded Greek-Jewish conflict, which is part of recorded Jewish history, Greek history, and even the Christian Bible.  It is considered the first struggle for religious freedom in Jewish history.

The story goes like this:

Israel had agreed to be ruled by Alexander the Great rather than be brutally conquered.  The Greeks didn't care if the Jews had their own religion and practiced it in their own temples as long as they could collect taxes and tribute.  However, in 168 BCE, something changed.  Alexander the Great died and a man named Antiocous became king.  He wanted to control everything - tell the Jews what to eat, how to prray, whom or what to pray to, etc.  The Jewish people didn't like this and a small group of rebels, lead by Judah Maccabbee and his sons, who came to be known as the Maccabees. spread throughout the countryside, taking control of villages and towns.  (In Hebrew, Maccabbee means "hammer".)

 The rebellion grew and the Maccabees, although they were very few in number compared to the Greeks, defeated the Greeks.  Unfortunately, their holy temple had been destroyed during the battles.  When the Jews had first erected their temple, they dedicated it to G-d and lit a lamp which was to burn continuously.

 Well, when they went back to clean up and restore their temple, they found that all the bottles of holy oil had been destroyed except for one, which was only enough to last for one day.  Miraculously, the one bottle of oil burned for eight days, which is how long it took to make more oil.  (They had to ground up olives, etc., in order to make the oil for their holy lamp.)   The Jews rededicated their temple to G-d and because of the miracle of the burning oil, decided that every year on that date, they would celebrate Hanukkah (rededication).  Hanukkah is also called the Festival of Lights or the Feast of Lights.  (Oh, the reason we write G-d instead of writing it with the "o" in it, is because it is out of respect.  If by some chance the paper or whatever the word G-d is written on is destroyed or thrown away, it will not have the full name of G-d on it, too.)

We celebrate Hanukkah by lighting the Hanukkah menorah, which has nine candles - eight for each one of the eight days that the oil burned and one other candle - a helper candle - which is called thhe shamash.  It is used to light the other candles.  We burn one candle the first night, two on the second night, and so on.  (The shamash is always burned, too, since that is the candle used to light the other candles.  So it is one on the first night plus the shamash, two on the second night plus the shamash, etc.)  The shamash is usually the one candle that is higher than the other candles.
 
 

We make potato latkes (potato pancakes) which are fried in oil, which is symbolic of the holy oil.

Children play a game with a wooden top called a dreidel.  It has four sides and each side has a Hebrew letter on it - Nun, Gimel, Hay and Shin.  These letters stand for the phrase "Nes Gadal Hyah Sham" - "A great miracle happened there."

The dreidel is part of the Hanukkah celebration because back when the Jews were not allowed to practice their religion, they did so anyway, pretending to be gambling when the guards came in to check on them.  There are two types of driedels made.  One that says "A great miracle happened there" and one that is made in Israel for the people there that says "A great miracle happened here." (Nes Gadol Hayah Po)

 It is customary to give one gift each night for each of the eight nights.  (A lot of times, we give more than one, though, in our family.)  We sing songs, say prayers and have fun with family and friends.
 
 

The Woof-muffins love Hanukkah, too!  They love getting gifts and opening them.  They also seem to love when our family comes over for our Hanukkah dinner and celebration.  They get lots of attention!