Hanukkah

I wanted to talk about Hanukkah. Hanukkah is a Jewish holiday that is usually sometime during Late November through December. This year it starts the 22nd of December. Hanukkah is 8 nights long. The origins of Hanukkah are that a long time ago to celebrate the victory of the Maccabees (the name of the Jewish nation a long time ago) there was only enough oil to light an eternal flame in the temple for 1 night. But the oil lasted 8 nights. It was a miracle. You can read what happened in Japanese here: Click Here. I actually have no religion, but my dad's side of my family is Jewish so I like to celebrate it. There are some people who consider Judaism (ユダヤ教) not just a religion but also a nation of people. Because of this, I am also part Jewish.

During Hanukkah, every night a Menorah is lit. A menorah is a candelabrum (燭台) that can holds 9 candles. On the first night of Hanukkah, the first candle is lit by helper candle, the candle in the middle. On the second night the first candle is lit again, plus the second candle. This continues for 8 nights.

There are certain foods eaten during Hanukkah but probably the most famous food is latkes. Latkes are potato pancakes. They are delicious! People eat Latkes with different things from Sour cream to Applesauce. I like to eat them with Applesauce.

Another part of Hanukkah is Dreidel. A dreidel is a wooden top (独楽) that you can play a game with. The game is kind of like gambling (ギャンブル), but children play with chocolate coins or other small items like real coins. These things are called Gelt, and you can often find Gelt around Hanukkah time in stores. It's a fun game. The top has four sides and each side has a different Hebrew letter. These mean different things, such as getting all of the coins in the game or getting nothing. I've played dreidel at a few Hanukkah parties, and it's alot of fun.