... Recommend this holiday to a friend.

Chanukah is among the most widely celebrated Jewish holidays ... This is a time for happy family gatherings around the menorah, for children's songs, sizzling potato latkes, and games of "dreidel" ... and for many of the older Jews, it brings back fond memories of childhood, and serves to renew a sense of Jewish identity.

Chanukah commemorates the Maccabean (or Hasmonean) victories over the forces of King Antiochus IV (reigned 175-164B.C.E. "before the common era") ... and the rededication of the Temple Kislev 25, 164 B.C.E. ... (Jewish month corresponding to approximately middle of December) This fight was led by Mattathias and his son, Judah Maccabee, the Maccabees were the first Jews who fought to defend their religious beliefs rather than their lives.

Chanukah is celebrated for eight days beginning on Kislev 25. The Chanukah lamp or candelabrum (menorah, see below) which recalls the Temple lampstand ... is kindled each evening ... One candle is lit the first evening, and an additional candle is lit each subsequent evening.

According to the Talmud, a deeper interpretation of the history, the ritually pure oil was desecrated by the Roman invaders, and what was left pure was sufficient for only one day's light, but miraculously lasted for eight days - hence we light the menorah, and we add an extra candle each day during the eight day celebration of Chanukah, the festival of lights ... see Torah... for an example of different levels of learning history.

A menorah is a multi-branched candelabra that is used by Jews in rites during the eight-day festival of Chanukah. It has taken many forms throughout the ages, but its essential feature has always been eight receptacles for oil or candles (one for the first day, two the second, etc.) ... and a further receptacle for the shammash ("servant") light, which is set apart and used for kindling the other eight candles. An interesting observation is that the Hebrew letter for "eight" is "chet", and it is the letter of life ("chaim," from the root "chayah," whose most important letter is "chet") ... remember that toast, L'Chaim ... meaning, "To Life."

To help get you in the mood, try this special Chanukah meditation. (Excerpted from "Chanukah: Eight Nights of Light, Eight Gifts for the Soul", by Shimon Apisdorf.)

"On Chanukah, late at night, sit down in front of your menorah and just gaze at the flames tiny, silent flames ... Glowing, sometimes dancing; vulnerable ... yet always reaching upwards ... You too possess an inner flame ... As you look at the flames of the menorah, as you begin to notice every nuance and detail, allow yourself to feel your own inner flame tiny, silent flame ... A flame that is often lost in the swamp of so many things to do ... A flame that wants to dance, to reach upwards, to touch something higher and richer and deeper ... That flame is your flame ... And it can never be extinguished."

By Rabbi Arthur Waskow

There are three aspects to Chanukah: All of them are about making light at a dark time, turning despair into hope.

1. In the world of the sun-moon-earth cycles, Chanukah is the darker-than-solstice festival. It comes at the dark time of the moon that is close to the dark time of the sun, and we light more and more candles to brighten our houses--until the moon begins to grow, and the sun to return.

2. In the world of history and politics, it reminds us of the dark moment when Mattathias' kinfolk obeyed the king's decree to abandon Torah and bow down to idols--the moment when he and his sons went out to the hills, to the darkest of caves, to light there the light of Torah and to win the victory of the small devoted band against the elephantine imperial armies.

3. In the world of personal and communal emotion and spirit, it reminds us of courage in the face of a sense that even the universe, even fate, has turned against us. When the seemingly victorious Maccabees approached the Temple, ready to celebrate their victory, the victory proved hollow. The Temple could not be dedicated anyway. The oil that is the seed of light was missing--the oil to light the great menorah. There was only enough to burn one day; enough to break the heart of any military victor.

What was to be done? A reasonable "secularist," perhaps a Hellenist, perhaps a Jewish general, would have said to delay the celebration, press new olive oil, wait a week or so.

But there was a miracle. Somebody was unreasonable enough, hopeful enough, faithful enough, celebratory enough, to light the menorah anyway. "Celebrate light!" this person must have said. "And what will be, will be." Now that kind of thinking--that's a miracle.

So G-d, the universe, history, karma, responded. The lamp stayed lit.

How do we use these understandings to enrich our celebration of Chanukah itself?

One suggestion: Let it spark your own approach.

We can turn the nightly lighting of the lights into a focused meditation:

We can light one light the first night, meditate on sun-and-moon, on the natural order, on our shadowed planet.

And on the second night, do that again, and then light the second candle and meditate on the biology of light, on the effects of the candle glow upon our minds and spirits.

And on the third night, do these meditations again, light the third candle, and meditate on the dark night of resistance, on the moment of becoming Maccabees.

And on the fourth night, do all these and meditate on the darkness of empty victory and on how to renew ourselves to act when darkness falls upon our own best efforts.

And on the fifth night, do these all again, and then light one candle in a meditation on the moments of darkness that have fallen on our people, the people Israel: the moments of Pharaoh, Babylon, Antiochus, Jerusalem's destruction, the Inquisition, Hitler--and on those who arose in those moments to renew us.

And on the sixth night, yet again repeat all these and meditate on how our light has kindled that of others, and their light ours; meditate on our interchanges with Hellenism, and Christianity, and Islam, and Marxism, and Buddhism, and Feminism , and so on.

And on the seventh night, recall all these and lift up the prophetic reading that we are taught to read on Chanukah: "Not by might, and not by power, but by my Spirit, says the Breath of Life."

And on the eighth night, review all these and then focus on the candle itself, on the way its own light grows out of its own dark heart.

Sam and Murray are walking down the street, talking about the upcoming holiday and some presents they will buy for the children ... and Murray is a little short of cash. All of a sudden they see a church with a big sign on it saying: "$100 for anyone converting."

Murray looks at it, thinking, wondering ... Sam sees him and says, "What are you thinking about?" ... Murray says, "I think I'm going to do it, why not." ... Sam answers, "Murray, are you crazy? What's the matter with you?" ... Murray says, "Yep, I'm going to do it" ... and in he goes while Sam is waiting outside.

After ten minutes Murray comes outside with a happy smile from ear to ear, and Sam runs over to him saying ... "Well, so tell me, what happened, did you get it, did you get the hundred dollars?"

And Sam looks at him saying ... "Is that all you Jews think about?"