Happy Hanukkah! (4th night--began 12/8)

[No Elephants]

What is Chanukah? ... When the royal Hasmonean family overpowered and was victorious over , they searched and found only a single cruse of pure oil... enough to light the menorah for a single day.

A miracle occurred, and they lit the menorah with this oil for eight days.

On the following year, they established these as days of festivity and praise and thanksgiving to G-d.

Talmud, Shabbat 21b

http://www.chabad.org/holidays/chanukah/default_cdo/jewish/Hanukkah.htm\

A holiday involving an oppressive Syrian king.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

In my opinion, the best thing that Adam Sandler did was the Hanukkah song.

Could not find a video within my patience level, but lyrics for all three versions are here:

http://judaism.about.com/od/holidays/a/Adam-Sandler-Hanukkah-Chanukkah-Song.htm

[formercia]

1. Chag Hanukka sameach

:hi:

[No Elephants]

4. Thank you. And to you.

The war on Hanukkah has been much more successful than the war on Christmas, no?

[formercia]

6. There are those who would plunge the World into Darkness

and erase all memory of Light.

[Enthusiast]

2. I had no idea.

Of course, in my ignorance, I just thought it was the fake Jewish Christmas. I kid.

[No Elephants]

3. Yes and no. It used to be a relatively minor holiday in the Jewish religious calendar, but

it has grown quite a bit, probably because of its proximity to Christmas, something like the colonists' expanding Thanksgiving celebrations into December.

Also, I understand that Christmas gift-giving bears some theoretical relation to the birth of Jesus because of the gifts brought to Jesus by the magi (though, on that basis, the gifts should be to Jesus or the church, not each other).

However, I am not at all sure what giving presents had to do with the miracle of a bit of oil lasting longer than expected?


Meh. Any reason to celebrate with each other and have lights and eat good food in the dead of winter can't be too wrong--unless people start going nuts about what we call a tree or whether we go with gnomes instead of male gingerbread.

The fault is not with the season, but with the nutcakes.

[Enthusiast]

5. Well said!.....................nt