Happy Hanukkah! 12-22 to 12-30-19

Chanukah aka Hanukkah: What's the Foundation for the Celebration? Dedication of the Jewish Temple in 165 BC

12-23-19, Clearly dedication of a Temple or a lamp burning for eight days when only enough oil for one ... isn't an equal parallel to the virgin birth of the Savior Jesus Christ celebrated at Christmas; Chanukah [proper spelling] is a relatively minor Jewish holiday celebrated around the same time as Christian’s ‘Christmas.’ Christmas is a really big deal and I think one of the greatest things about America is that everybody stops in the middle of the whole thing to give a nod of recognition to a Jewish religious minority. By the way, I don’t get upset about being wished a “Merry Christmas,” either; it’s nice to be invited to be part of someone else’s celebration and I love spending Christmas with my non-Jewish friends. 

Chanukah is the story of a people rebelling against an oppressive tyranny – Jewish people. History reports the beginning when Alexander the Great conquered Syria, Egypt and Judea. Alexander was smart enough to let people pretty much go on observing their own religions and customs, but a successor of his, the Seleucid Greek King Antiochus IV in 165 B.C. began forbidding Jewish practices and enforced the worship of pagan gods. A Jewish Priest named Mattathias the Hasmonean took the first blow and his son, Judah “The Hammer” Maccabee, led the successful Maccabean revolt against the Seleucids. They cleaned out all the satanic stuff and rededicated the Temple in Jerusalem to God. They found that they were out of oil for their menorah lamp, but miraculously it burned for eight days. Chanukah, known also as The Festival of Lights, is celebrated for eight days and the ritual involves lighting an increasing number of candles each night to commemorate each day of the miracle. The independent state of Israel then lasted until the Romans took over in around 63 B.C [..snip]

The special Jewish foods at the Chanukah celebration are traditionally potato latkes (pancakes) and sufganiot (jelly doughnuts), i.e., foods fried in oil. And after eating, everyone would try their hand spinning a dreidel (a sort of toy top). The dreidel game is around 2,000 years old and was used to foil the authorities who prohibited us from celebrating our history into thinking the Jews were just playing a game; when actually, they were retelling the story of Chanukah. Today, it’s mainly played by kids to see who can make the dreidel spin the longest.
Jewish parents keep their children happy by providing them with gifts for the eight days of Chanukah while Christian children enjoy Christmas. Celebrating Chanukah with his or her family allows a Jewish child to build up a store of lovely memories; never confusing Chanukah with Christmas. It’s a time for families to recount the glories of Jewish history and instill sweet memories in children making them proud to be Jewish. To let them know that we have our own great heroes.
*Excerpted and adapted full report from David A. Kaufman, the Yankee son of Stuart Kaufman,   a commercial real estate lawyer in New York. He also does stand-up comedy and is a proud member of the Friars Club here  More here
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The Miracle - Chanukah - Hanukkah
Hanukkah for the year 2019 is celebrated/observed at sundown Sunday, December 22 ending at sundown on Monday, December 30. Hanukkah is an eight-day Jewish festival. ... They had no oil BUT GOD ... there was the miracle of Chanukah was that they lit the menorah with this oil for eight days—that the flame of selfless sacrifice blazed beyond a moment of truth, beyond a day of reckoning.