Hanukkah 411 -- From Rabbi Corey Helfand

Holyday Thoughts – Chanukah 5776
By Rabbi Corey Helfand
I hope that you enjoy this special edition of Holyday Thoughts, along with a little bit of
info, songs, recipes, and other stuff about your favorite Jewish holidays!
 Important Reminders: On Friday night of Chanukah (December 11), which
coincides with Shabbat, remember to light the Chanukah candles first and then
use the Shamash to light the Shabbat candles. Candle lighting in Foster City is at
4:35 pm. (check your local listings for a Shabbat time near you!)
 On a Saturday night, we do havdallah first to officially end Shabbat and then we
proceed with lighting the Chanukah candles, that is of course unless you’re at the
synagogue in which case you say the evening Amidah to officially end Shabbat
and then light the Chanukkiah first. Why you might ask? Because the mitzvah of
“pirsumei nissa—publicizing the miracle” is so important that it comes first.
Index: In this issue you’ll find
I.
The Latest and Greatest Hanukkah Videos
II.
Chanukah 411
III.
Dear Yenta
IV.
Your favorite Chanukah tunes
V.
Chanukah How To: The Rituals
VI.
Tasty Treats
VII. Fun, Games, and More!
I.
The Latest and Greatest Hanukkah Videos
a. Adam Sandler’s Newest Hanukkah Song: https://youtu.be/6YSOZP_M6eM
b. Maccabeats “Eight Nights”: https://youtu.be/WAbTDHblxFM
c. Six13 “Shake it Out Parody”: http://youtu.be/NoHp2Rq8sMI
d. Six13 The Thanksgivukkah Anthem: http://youtu.be/yaFUcQZSvoE
e. Hanukkah from the Technion in Israel: http://youtu.be/Lb_CbuhLi2Q
f. Six13 and Friends Haneirot Halalu: http://goo.gl/9rCml
g. Adam Sandler’s Original Hanukkah Song: http://goo.gl/QZ6zc
h. Yeshiva University The Maccabeats: http://goo.gl/2C8at
i. The Fountainheads New Hannukkah Song: http://goo.gl/uB3Sa
II.
The 411 on Chanukah: all you need to know!
1. What does the name mean?
 Chanukah (feel free to make up your own spelling, most people do! Or check out
http://goo.gl/pUj0r) probably comes from the Hebrew three-letter root that means
“to dedicate” or “to educate.” This is in reference to the rededication of the
Temple in Jerusalem (see below).
 Chanukah is also known as the Festival of Lights, because of the many candles
that we light on the holiday.
2. Where does the holiday come from?
 Chanukah celebrates two different events, both of which took place in 165 BCE.
 The first was a military victory of the Jews, led by Judah Maccabee (meaning
“Judah the Hammer”), over their Seleucid, Hellenistic oppressors and their king,
Antiochus IV. Antiochus had outlawed the Jewish religion, ordered the erection
of a statue to Zeus INSIDE the Temple, and commanded sacrificing pigs in the
Temple! The victory of the Maccabees was the first miracle of Chanukah.
 Why 8 days? From a historical point of view, because the Jews were fighting a
war against the Greeks, they were unable to celebrate the holyday of Sukkot (also
8 days), and therefore the rededication of the Temple was united with the
celebration of a belated Sukkot.
 The second reason for Chanukkah, the one that we are all familiar with, is actually
a rabbinically inspired story from the days of the Talmud, a few hundred years
after the Chanukkah events took place. When the Jews were rededicating and
cleaning the Temple, they found that only a small amount of pure oil had survived
the destruction, and they believed they wouldn’t be able to keep the Menorah, the
large candelabrum, in the Temple lit for the full eight days, which is the time it
would take to bring new oil. Miraculously, the oil that they had lasted the full
eight days, and the Menorah remained lit!
3. How do we greet one another?
 The traditional greeting is “Chanukah
Sameach,” meaning “Happy Chanukah!”
 There is also a practice of saying “Chag
Urim Sameach,” which means “Happy
Festival of Lights”
 Some people also say “Chag Sameach,”
which means “Happy holiday,” which is also
fine.
4. When do we celebrate Chanukah?
 The Jewish calendar follows the moon,
known as a lunar calendar, instead of the sun
(a solar calendar). Therefore, the Jewish
holydays always land on the same date in the
Jewish calendar, but not on the same date in
our secular, Gregorian calendar.
 Chanukah always falls on the 25th of the
Jewish month of Kislev, but the two calendars don’t exactly line up.
III.
Your favorite Chanukah tunes
Here are some fun songs that are connected to Chanukah, and the YouTube files
where you can hear them sung! Here are the highlights from past years:
http://networkedblogs.com/rNu0j?mid=55
A. Chanukah Song
O Chanukah, O Chanukah
Come light the menorah
Let’s have a party
We’ll all dance the horah!
Gather round the table
We’ll give you a treat,
Dreidels to play with
And latkes to eat!
And while we are playing
The candles are burning low.
One for each night
They will shed a sweet light
To remind us of days long ago.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLqG3BqMC8E (Performed by the Barenaked
Ladies)
B. My Dreidel
I have a little dreidel,
I made it out of clay,
And when it’s dry and ready,
Then dreidel I will play!
Chorus:
Oh, dreidel, dreidel, dreidel
I made it out of clay
And when it’s dry and ready
Oh dreidel I shall play!
It has a lovely body
With legs so short and thin
And when it gets all tired
It drops and then I WIN!
Chorus
My dreidel’s always playful,
It loves to dance and spin
A happy game of dreidel
Come play now, let’s begin!
Chorus
(Rockapella version!):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=ZTbbUT_kr8c
C. Sevivon (Hebrew for Dreidel)
Sevivon, sov sov sov
Chanukah hu chag tov
Chanukah hu chag tov
Sevivon, sov sov sov
Chag simcha hu la-am
Nes gadol ha-ya sham
Nes gadol ha-ya sham
Chag simcha hu la-am
Translation:
Dreidel, spin, spin, spin!!
Chanuka is a great holiday
It is a festival of joy for the Jewish
people
A great miracle happened there (in
Israel).
YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7
y0Z3YpqEdw&feature=related
IV.
Dear Yenta
In college, I co-edited a weekly newsletter called “The Schmooze” and my dear friend Cara
Passman wrote a weekly column entitled “Dear Yenta.” Please enjoy her words of Torah,
with a few edits of my own, as we celebrate Chanukkah/Hanukkah/‫חנוכה‬.
Dear Yenta,
I really don’t get what’s so special about Chanukah. The story’s really about a small band
of rebels who manage to defeat the government by hiding in the mountains and ambushing
them. Guerilla warfare tactics, however successful they might have been, don’t seem like
something we should be celebrating. So what’s all the fuss about?
Sincerely,
Extremely Left-Wing, Ultra-Liberal, Hippie-Wanna-Be
Dear Wanna-Be,
Let’s get our story straight, shall we? The ‘government’, aka the Greeks, didn’t let the Jews
practice their religion. (Which is somewhat ironic, since they had plenty of their own gods.
You’d think they’d let us just have our one.) They also destroyed our Temple, brought in
unkosher food, knocked things over, wrote vulgar Greek graffitti, that sort of thing. They were
bad men. Very, very bad men. So ‘the fuss’ is not really about successful guerilla tactics, but
about standing up for what we believe in. Chanukah is a time for us to celebrate not only being
Jewish, but living in a time and country where we’re actually allowed to live Jewish lives.
Dear Yenta,
Although I was asleep for most of Hebrew school (I mean
come on 9 am on a Sunday morning when I could be
sleeping?) I do remember learning about the miracle of
Chanukah. The whole oil burning for eight days instead of
one thing, and lighting one candle for each day in
commemoration. So we had this menorah lighting shindig on
a boat while sailing out on the San Francisco Bay, and my
friend said that we had to light the candles in the window of
the ship. I’d never heard that before. Is that true, or was my
friend just being bossy?
Yours truly,
Wishing for Enlightenment
Dear Enlightenment,
However bossy your friend may normally be, he was right this time. Chanukah is not only a time
when we rejoice in being Jewish (we should be doing that every day), but also a time when we
want to show the whole world who we are. Lighting the menorah or chanukiah as it’s called in
Hebrew, is a way of publicizing the miracle that happened over 2000 years ago. It’s a way of
shouting out to the world “I’m a Jew, and darn proud of it!”
V.
The Chanukah “How To”: Rituals for lighting the Menorah
 First of all, it’s really not supposed to be called a Menorah! Menorah has a total of seven
“arms,” three on either side and one taller one in the middle, and it was used in the
Temple in Jerusalem. What we use today is a special version of the Menorah designed for
Chanukah, called a Chanukiah (you can spell that one however you want too!). It has
nine arms, four on either side and one in the middle (see picture on the left).
 The middle one that is higher or lower (or at the far end, doesn’t matter where it’s
located, just that it’s separate from the other eight!) is called the “Shamash” or “Shames.”
The Shames is the helper, the one that lights the others. You should light the Shames
first, and use it to light the other candles.
 The first candle to be lit is the one at the far right. Just one candle on the first day, and the
Shames. On the second day, we add a second candle, and always light the newest candle
FIRST! So we start at the right end and add to the left, but we light the one furthest to the
left first and move down the row to the right. Make sense?
 On the first night of Chanukah, we recite all three blessings. On the seven remaining
nights, we only recite the first two blessings.
 On Friday night of Chanukah, which coincides with Shabbat, remember to light the
Chanukah candles first and then use the Shamash to light the Shabbat candles. Candle
lighting in Foster City is at 4:33 pm. (check your local listings for a Shabbat time near
you!)
 Hanukkah candles should burn for at least 30 minutes. On Friday night, the
Hanukkah candles should burn for at least 90 minutes so that you can experience
the miracle during Shabbat.
 On a Saturday night, we do havdallah first to officially end Shabbat and then we proceed
with lighting the Chanukah candles, that is of course unless you’re at the synagogue in
which case you say the evening Amidah to officially end Shabbat and then light the
Chanukkiah first. Why you might ask? Because the mitzvah of “pirsumei nissa—
publicizing the miracle” is so important that it comes first.
 For instructions on “how to” light the Chanukkiah, please see below.
How to light the Hanukkah Candles:
Check out this video courtesy of “The Adventures of Todd and God”
http://www.myjewishlearning.com/holidays/Jewish_Holidays/Hanukkah/At_Home/Candl
elighting/Video_How_to_Light.shtml
Baruch atah Adonai
eloheinu melech ha'olam
asher kid'shanu b'mitzvotav
v'tzivanu l'hadlik neir shel Chanukah.
Blessed are You, Adonai our God, King of the Universe, whose mitzvoth add holiness to our life
and who gave us the mitzvah to light the lights of Chanukah.
Baruch atah Adonai
Eloheinu melech ha’olam
She’asah nisim la’avoteinu
Ba-yamim haheim baz’man ha-zeh.
Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who accomplished miracles for our
ancestors in ancient days, and in our time.
We say this blessing on the first night of Hanukkah only
Baruch atah Adonai
Eloheinu melech ha-olam
She’hecheyanu v’kiy’manu
V’higiyanu lazman ha-zeh.
Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, for granting us life, for sustaining us, and
for enabling us to reach this day.
Tasty Treats
Food – It is customary on Chanukah to eat foods that are
fried in oil, to commemorate the miracle surrounding oil
on this holiday. In particular, we eat the following two
favorites!
 Latkes. These are potato pancakes. Also known as
“Levivot” in Hebrew (“Latkes” is Yiddish).
Traditionally, they are eaten with sour cream and
applesauce, but a lot of people have their own crazy family customs that they add to it.
I’m a traditionalist myself.  (See below for recipes.)
 Sufganiyot. Basically, jelly donuts. It could be any type of donut, but traditionally the
Jews have gone with jelly donuts, because…. Why not?
You can find tons and tons of great recipes for latkes (the potato pancakes)
out there, in most Jewish cookbooks and anywhere online! 
6-8 potatoes
1 Tbsp flour
1 tsp salt
1 lg. onion
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
VI.
Ingredients:
2 eggs
pinch of pepper
¼ tsp baking powder
oil for frying
Procedure:
Peel and grate potatoes into a large bowl. Pour off the liquid.
Grate the onion and combine with potatoes
Add flour, salt, pepper, and eggs. Mix well.
Add baking powder and mix well.
Heat the oil in a frying pan. Add tablespoons of the potato mixture to the pan and fry on
both sides until brown.
Place the fried latkes on paper towel to get rid of excess oil.
Serve hot with apple sauce and sour cream.
Fun, Games, and More!
 Games – There is one primary game that is VERY important to play on Chanukah! It is
called Dreidel, which is Yiddish, and it refers to the spinning top. It is pretty easy to learn
how to spin it, but when you get really good, you can spin it upside down too! The four
sides of the top each have a Hebrew letter on it. These are the letters Nun, Gimmel, Hay,
and Shin (or Pey if you’re in Israel). They stand for the phrase, Nes Gadol Haya Sham,
which means “A great miracle happened there (in Israel).” In Israel, they replace the last
letter with a Pey, for the word “Poh,” meaning “here.” See below for game rules.
 Gift giving – Is definitely of major importance in the
modern celebration of Chanukah! Originally, the
tradition associated with Chanukah was to give “gelt,”
or coins, on Chanukah. Today, we still have a
reminder of this, in the piles of chocolate coins that are
given on Chanukah! Since the middle of the 20th
Century, giving presents has also become a big part of
the Chanukah celebration. This was started primarily
in North America, as a response to the gift giving
associated with Christmas. It is interesting, however, that in borrowing this ritual from the
Christians, we are avoiding the temptation to assimilate out of Judaism and observe someone
else’s holidays. This is indeed very much in line with the spirit of Chanukah, because the
Maccabees found their own way of resisting assimilation into the Greek culture around them.
They adopted some Greek customs, but made them Jewish, much like we’ve done with giving
presents today!
There is one game that is an essential part of the Chanukah celebration, and it is almost a
religious requirement that you play at least one game of Dreidel on Chanukah!! This is how the
game works:
 What you will need:
o One Dreidel (spinning top)
o Some type of game “currency,” usually raisins, chocolate, or almonds. Have a
whole bag at your disposal.
o Minimum of two players, but really it’s more fun with three, four, or more!
o A hard, smooth surface to play on.
 The rules:
o Each person gets the same amount of raisins/chocolate/almonds, approximately
30.
o At the start, each person antes 5 pieces into the pot.
o Then, each player gets a turn, and based on which side of
the Dreidel comes up, has to do one of the following:
 Nun, looks like this ‫נ‬, nothing happens and it’s the next person’s turn.



Gimmel, looks like this ‫ג‬, you win the whole pot, everyone re-antes, and it’s
the next person’s turn.
Hay, looks like this ‫ה‬, you win half the pot, the rest remains, and it’s the
next person’s turn.
Shin, looks like this ‫ש‬, you have to ante 5 more into the pot.
 You keep playing until one person has won all the
raisins/almonds or everyone gets bored and you stop.
 Modify rules based on family or communal custom.