Hanukkah is one of Judaism’s more well-known holidays—presumably because of its proximity to Christmas—but it is a minor and non-biblical holiday. In Hebrew, Hanukkah means “dedication;” it is a commemoration of the Maccabean revolt and the rededication of the Second Temple. Since it isn’t an English word, there are many different ways to spell Hanukkah, as you have probably noticed!
Hanukkah traditions are different from family to family during the eight-day holiday. In mine, we lit the menorah each night. I think my Christian friends thought the gift-giving part of Hanukkah was like having eight days of Christmas presents, but it certainly wasn’t like that in our house! We exchanged gifts, but only got a big gift on one night. The other nights it was something small, such as books (still a popular gift in our house!). Food is an integral part of most Jewish holidays and the traditional foods vary from holiday to holiday. Fried food is traditional for Hanukkah, and we made latkes (potato pancakes) from scratch every year.
A favorite memory is of my mother coming to my classroom to teach classmates about Hanukkah. I grew up here in Knoxville and in Greenville, South Carolina. Usually, there were only a handful of other Jewish students in my schools and I loved teaching my classmates about our traditions. We would light the menorah, learn to play the dreidel game (a dreidel is a spinning top), and Momma would make latkes for everyone to try. My mother continues this tradition today in her grandchildren’s classrooms.
