What is Hanukkah?

Hanukkah isn’t exactly Christmas. Most people who celebrate this tradition are Jews, even though it’s a popular thing to celebrate around the world. Hanukkah is an Israel national holiday, filled with student present plays, holiday songs, and party’s. Hanukkah is typically on the 25th day of the month of Kislev on the Hebrew calendar, falling in November or December on the Gregorian calendar. It is also spelled as ‘Chanukah,’ and several other ways. This holiday season, according to AP-NORC, only around 5% of people will celebrate Hanukkah while 92% celebrate Christmas. While, yes, bunches and bunches of people celebrate Hanukkah, it will never really be as big as Christmas is.

Another strange thing about Hanukkah is their strict food rules. Pork and shellfish are typically, and mostly not allowed on the table during the feast they have. Jews will not mix meat and dairy in the same meal. If there’s a chicken on the table, you won’t be seeing butter or cheese either.

There are many traditions to Hanukkah, despite it being a tradition itself. One thing that Jews do during Hanukkah is playing ‘Dreidel.’ A dreidel is a small four-sided spinning top with a Hebrew letter on each side, used in a children's game traditionally played at the Jewish festival of Hanukkah.

Another common thing that they do is to Light the Menorah. According to Jewish tradition, after the Maccabees' victory over the Greeks, there was only enough oil to burn for one day in the Temple. Lighting the Hanukkah menorah commemorates this miracle. The menorah is lit every night for eight days, since the holiday lasts eight days straight, and is only lit after sundown.

Jews lit the menorah with only one day's worth of oil, which miraculously lasted eight days, making the Festival of Lights.