Owing to a quirk in the Jewish lunar calendar Hanukkah coincides with Christmas this year. While it predates the Christian festival – it is mentioned in the Bible, in the gospel of St John (“And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication, and it was winter. And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon’s porch”) – it is most certainly its inferior cousin in many western cultures. Where Christmas has become a major global event, Hanukkah remains overshadowed and obscure in comparison.
Hanukkah is a holiday about Jewish freedom to worship under oppression. Over eight days we commemorate the victory of Jewish people who rose up against their Greek-Syrian oppressors in the Maccabean Revolt.
This led to the re-dedication of the Temple in Jerusalem. Often called the Festival of Lights, the holiday is celebrated with the lighting of the hanukkiah (a nine-branched candelabrum also called a menorah), traditional foods, games and gifts. It has a fixed date in the Jewish calendar but given that this is a lunar calendar it moves around each year.
