Before World War II, Christmas as an American holiday was becoming increasingly popular even among immigrant Jews. During the past 20 years, Hanukkah has become a major Jewish holiday in other parts of the world. Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement, is observed on the 10th day of the month of Tishri, usually... Naomi Blumberg was Assistant Editor, Arts and Culture for Encyclopaedia Britannica. But we can't do it alone. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. The eight-day festival commemorates the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem after the Maccabees defeated the Greek rulers in the second century B.C. The Hanukkah story is, after all, one that is celebrated as a struggle for religious liberty, a people's will to fight for their beliefs, and, of course, a victory. Tatjana Lichtenstein is an associate professor of history and director of the Schusterman Center for Jewish Studies at The University of Texas at Austin. The reason the holiday is celebrated for eight days stems from what is told in the Talmud: when it came time for the rededication of the Second Temple, only one day’s worth of pure oil was found to use in the temple’s menorah—which was meant to burn all night every night—but miraculously the oil burned for eight days. Will you take 5 minutes out of your day to complete a brief survey? They did so in part by framing it as a meaningful alternative complete with a dramatic story, a family setting, and, of course, gift-giving. The celebration of Hanukkah has both religious and secular roots, and there is even a reason why the traditional foods are fried in oil. Editorial and commentary from op-ed columnists, the editorial board and contributing writers from The Dallas Morning News, delivered three days a week. Although they had only enough oil for one day, so the story goes, it lasted for eight. Before World War II, Christmas as an American holiday was becoming increasingly popular even among immigrant Jews. Tatjana Lichtenstein is an associate professor of history and director of the Schusterman Center for Jewish Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. Will you join us and donate now? For example, by the 1950s, 40 percent of middle-class Jewish homes in Chicago had a Christmas tree. Our newsroom works on your behalf to hold officials accountable. For centuries, Hanukkah was considered a “minor” holiday, a festival with a distinct place in the Jewish calendar, but without the restrictions in activities or food that define other well-known holidays such as Passover, Rosh Hashanah, and the weekly Shabbat. In particular, Chabad, a New York-based group committed to strengthening religious observance among Jews, has promoted the elevation of Hanukkah to a major holiday in societies where religious difference is less publicly acceptable than in America. We rely on membership donations from readers to support our fact-based reporting. In America, Hanukkah has become a big deal in no small part because of Christmas. Although Hanukkah today is one of the most popular and recognizable of Jewish holidays in the minds of non-Jews, this is only a relatively recent development, one rooted in American history and culture. For centuries, Hanukkah was considered a minor holiday, a festival with a distinct place in the Jewish calendar, but without the restrictions in activities or food that define other well-known holidays such as Passover, Rosh Hashana and the weekly Shabbat. Hanukkah also roughly coincided with Christmas, and it offered an opportunity for Jews to participate in the holiday celebrations complete with gift-giving and merry-making without giving up their distinct religious and cultural identities. Today, especially in North America, Hanukkah is often thought of as the Jewish counterpart to Christmas, an association that developed because of Hanukkah’s proximity to December 25. The giving of gifts and displaying of holiday decorations have nothing to do with the Jewish holiday but were customs adopted from Christmas traditions. In darker times, Jews, such as Anne Frank’s family, found comfort in remembering past miracles, in lighting candles, and in the joy of exchanging even very modest gifts. In America, Hanukkah has become a big deal in no small part because of Christmas. Take part in Chanukah traditions such as lighting the menorah, playing the dreidel game, eating gelt, cooking and baking delicious food, and enjoying the fun of Hanukkah gifts. Politics aside, Hanukkah in America and in other parts of the world is now an occasion for gift-giving and merry-making, a holiday that rivals and — for many interfaith families — complements Christmas. True Hanukkah traditions include lighting the candles on a nine-branched menorah called a Hanukkiah and saying the blessings, making and eating potato latkes (pancakes) and sufganiyot (jelly doughnuts)—both cooked in oil—and playing dreidel, a game of chance played with a four-sided top. At the same time, much as in the U.S., Hanukkah was cultivated by Jewish families as an alternative, and for some an addition, to Christmas rituals.
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