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As a side note, I am not pronouncing “Hanukkah” properly (there should be more of that throat noise, as in loch, on the first “h”), but when I was listening to myself say it, I sounded ridiculous.
How am I pronouncing it? Why are there nine candles on the menorah if there are only eight days in Hanukkah? What’s a menorah?
Find out by listening to the CultureCast above (by pressing the little blue play botton), or by clicking through and checking out the transcript and further sources.
Hanukkah Help (CultureCast #039)
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Transcript
Hello CultureCats, this is Joshua Hwang with another 90 Seconds to Culture podcast.
Hanukkah Help
The temple of Jerusalem had just been taken back through a Jewish revolt. Being a holy place however the temple needed to be rededicated, consecrated, made holy again. A part of this ritual was to light the eternal flame, yet there was only enough still holy oil to keep the flame burning for one day.
They burned the oil anyways.
Miraculously, the oil kept burning, through the second day, through the third. All the way to eight days: just enough time to make and bless new oil.
To celebrate the rededication of one of the holiest Jewish temples and the miracle of the oil, Hanukkah is celebrated for eight days, every year on the Jewish calendar: starting on the 25th day of Kislev [kis'-luv].
The special nine-branched candle holder, called the menorah, is used to commemorate Hanukkah. One additional candle is lit each night, progressing to eight lights on the last night of Hanukkah. A ninth candle, usually higher or lower on the menorah, is lit every night as well. The shamash, as it is called, meaning guard or servant, is used to safeguard against breaking a rule from the Talmud, where the Hanukkah lights may only be used for publicizing and meditating upon the Hanukkah story. For other purposes the shamash may be used.
Other Hanukkah customs include, foods such as latkas (potato pancakes), games (the spinning dreidel), gelt (small monetary, or otherwise, gifts) and daily prayers.
Sources / Further Reading:
Wikipedia: Hanukkah
Wikipedia: Maccabean revolt
Dictionary.com: Hanukkah - The second definition has a more accurate audio version of the pronunciation of “Hanukkah”
[tags]Hanukkah, menorah, jewish, judaism, culture, podcast[/tags]
(image from skpy via flickr)
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