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| About Hanukkah
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Hanukkah is the annual Jewish festival celebrated
on eight successive days beginning on the 25th day of Kislev, the third month
of the Jewish calendar, corresponding, approximately, to December in the Gregorian
calendar. It is also known as the Festival of Lights, Feast of Dedication, and
Feast of the Maccabees, Hanukkah commemorates the rededication of the Temple of
Jerusalem by Judas Maccabee in 165 BC after the Temple had been profaned by Antiochus
IV Epiphanes, king of Syria and overlord of Palestine.
The Jewish people held festivities in the Temple of Jerusalem, and rededicated it to God.
After removing all Syrian idols from the Temple, the Jews found only one small cruse of oil
which to light their holy lamps.
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Miraculously, the cruse provided oil for eight days. Judas
Maccabaeus, the Jewish leader, then proclaimed a festival to be observed by Jews.
During Hanukkah, gifts are exchanged and contributions are made to the poor. Each evening,
one additional candle is lit on the Hanukkah menorah (candelabra). By the last evening, eight lighted candles stand
together.
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The celebration also reaffirms the continuing struggle to live by God's commandments and to lead Jewish lives. When all
is said and done, perhaps the most important message of Hanukkah may be found in the name of the holiday itself: Dedication.
When Jews have dedicated themselves, through faith and action, to the pursuit of high religious and human ideals, Judaism has
been strong. That imperative, to strengthen our religion and our people, remains an important challenge at this season, in every
generation. Hanukkah begins every year on the 25th of the Hebrew month of "Kislev."
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Miraculously, the oil lasted for eight days and the "Festival of Lights" was born.
Each year, in commemoration of this victory of independence, the rededication of the Temple and the Miracle of
the oil, Jews worldwide light the Menorah, a nine-candle candelabrum.
The first candle of the Menorah is lit at sundown on the first day of Hanukkah. One additional candle is lit each
night during the celebration. The ninth candle, called the "Shamash," meaning "servant," is often placed higher or
to one side to distinguish it from the other candles. The "Shamash" is used to light each of the candles from left
to right.
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