Ever wondered what Hanukkah is all about? From lighting the Menora to the special festive menus, here's the lowdown on how and why the Jewish people celebrate Hanukkah, and how you can take part too!
Singapore is a melting pot of cultures, and one of the things we love the most is celebrating different festivals and learning more about them. You may have seen the beautiful candelabras that represent the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah (which starts at nightfall on 7 December 2023 and ends with nightfall on 15 December 2023) but do you know what it’s all about? We discovered these are called Menora, and realised there is a lot we have to learn about this Festival of Lights (also called the Festival of Rededication). We sat down with mum of four and parenting consultant, Tanya Kalush, to fill us in on what celebrating Hanukkah is all about!
Celebrating Hanukkah, the Jewish Festival of Lights
Thanks for chatting with us today, Tanya. What is the story behind Hanukkah?
“Hanukkah is an eight-day Jewish holiday, known also as The Festival of Lights, which typically takes place between late November and late December. Jews around the world celebrate it by lighting the Menora, playing games of dreidel and eating special holiday sweet food such as potato latkes and Sufganiyot.” (Sufganiyot are a type of doughnut – sounds good to us!).
Why do Jewish people celebrate Hanukkah, and why do festivities last for eight straight days?
“We believe that when the Greeks destroyed the holy temple in Jerusalem and burned its contents, the Jews couldn’t light candles, which was an important daily tradition at the holy temple. They all looked for oil (back then, they used oil to burn and light the candles) and eventually found only one small jar that would usually only last for one day, but miraculously continuously burned for a full eight days, until more oil could be found. This established the tradition that from that day onwards, the festival should last eight days, and has done for hundreds of years now.”
What is the significance of the Menora?
Tanya explains the importance of the order in which the Menora is lit: “On the first night of Hanukkah, you light one (candle or oil), starting from the left side of the Menora. On the second day, two lights; third day, three lights; and so on, proceeding from placing candles left to right but lighting them from right to left over the eight nights.
In our family, we have the main Menora, and then each child has his or her own (we made our own “art and craft menora” with all the kids as a special Hanukkah activity). We love lighting ALL Menoras at once, as the house is full of lights and happiness!”
What are your family traditions to celebrate Hanukkah?
“We like to have lots of friends over for the last night of Hanukkah. Everyone brings their own Menora to light with their kids, and we all indulge in eating lots of colourful, sweet doughnuts, potato latkes and some other oily and yummy food! We sing songs and the house is full, noisy and mainly happy.
Every year, I buy dreidels and doughnuts, take a book and go to my kids’ classes and tell them the story of the miracle of Hanukkah. We play with the dreidels, sing songs and eat delicious doughnuts!”
