French Jewish Traditions and Recipes
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What is Hanukkah all about ?

 

Picture
        Hanukkah, also known as the festival of lights,  celebrates the victory of the Jewish Maccabees over the Greek Seleucides in the  2nd century BCE, and the  rededication of the Holy Temple of Jerusalem. The Greeks had desecrated the  Temple, and  when the Jews re-conquered it, they discovered that almost all the ritual olive  oil had been profaned. There was only one sealed container left, just enough to  last one single day. At the time, 8 days were needed to press new oil and make  it ready for the Temple. They used the  single container, and miraculously, it lasted for eight days.



To commemorate this miracle, starting on the  25th day of Kislev in the  Hebrew calendar (sometimes between the end of November and the end of December in the secular calendar), Jews all over the world kindle the lights of a  Hanukkiah (9 branches Menorah), one additional light on each night of the  Holiday, until the eighth night. 

 
There is no practical purpose to this lighting;  its only goal is to diffuse light, which is synonym with joy in Judaism. Also,
it reminds symbolically of the Jewish identity: our ancestors fought not only  for their life but also against the dangers of assimilation, and by lighting the  candles, we too fight against assimilation. 





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