Hannukah

Being Catholic, I guess I don't really understand Hannukah, which doesn't make a lot of sense, because the miracle and victory that Haunnukah celebrates are part of my faith as well. So, being the insatiably curious person that I am, I searched out one of my friends who celebrates Hanukkah and had him explain it to me. The following explanation is a joint effort in explaining the holiday to youse (although all credit for outlandish references to 300 and pokemon goes to him):



Hanukkah or Chanukah, I haven’t met many people who actually care which way you spell it, is the Jewish holiday celebrating the miraculous extension of one days worth of oil over 8 days. It is also a celebration of the Maccabees’s 300-like victory over the army of the Seleucid Empire.

The most compelling similarity between the Maccabees and the army faced by the Spartans is the elephants, which the Seleucids housed in the temple. However, there are two very big differences, first and foremost the Maccabees won, and secondly The Maccabees’ military victory over the Greek-Syrians was a result of a plethora of raids rather than one large epic battle.

Recently for my family, and I think for many families, the celebration of the holiday has changed vastly. When I was little, our celebration would be a family gathering to light a small menorah accompanied by a few hours of story-telling and playing dreidel for portions of each other’s dessert.


Now we go over to my uncle’s house where he has started putting out a 15ft tall menorah and lighting a propane-powered candle every night at sunset which he keeps lit day and night until the end of Hanukkah.

Personally I feel this is a result of holiday envy and a tad unnecessary. However I seem to change my mind whenever I see those flames roar into the air, then I just wonder why people haven’t realized that a fire type always beats a water type. In the end, I suppose the actual way of celebration isn’t all that important as long as its with family and you keep the reasoning in mind.


Hope that helps :)
Happy Hannukah (day 6)