Chanukah Topics

• hanukkah candles
• kad katan
• oh chanukah
• babylonian talmud
• kohen gadol
• polish jewry
• hanukkiah
• due money
• chofetz chaim
• orach
• shulchan aruch
• menora
• english speaking countries
• jewish holiday
• dignitary
• sov
• rema
• jewish law
• hanukkah

Related Images

Source

del.icio.us Tags

• hanukkah
• religion
• holidays
• religions
• judaism
• jewish
• christmas
• celebrations
• reference
• chanukkah
• wikipedia
• festivals
• religious
• holiday
• web
• chanukah
• dave
• dewitt
• festivaloflights
• holidays_around_the_world_chanukah
• festival

Chanukah, Chanukah

Looking for Hanukkah?

In the Rema's gloss on the Shulchan Aruch he writes There are authorities (Kol Bo and the RaN) who say that one should eat cheese on Hanukkah, because the miracle was performed with milk that Judith fed the enemy. Rema on Shulkhan Arukh Orach Chayim 670:2 The Chofetz Chaim there adds in his Mishna Berurah on the words that Judith fed , She was the daughter of Yochanan, the Kohen Gadol. There was a decree that every espoused bride should submit to the dignitary first before the consummation of her marriage. She fed cheese to the head of the oppressors in order to intoxicate him and cut his head and they all fled. Mishna Berurah 670:2:10 Generally women are exempt in Jewish law from time bound positive commandments, however the Talmud requires that women engage in the mitzvah of lighting Hanukkah candles for they too were involved in the miracle. Babylonian Talmud: Shabbat 23a This account of Judiths involvement with the events of Chanukah serves to explain the requirement of women to participate in the rituals of Hanukkah and the origins of the custom of eating dairy during the holiday.

The most well known in English-speaking countries include "Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel" and "Chanukah, Oh Chanukah". In Israel, Hanukkah has become something of a national holiday. A large number of songs have been written on Hanukkah themes, perhaps more so than for any other Jewish holiday. Some of the most well known are " Hanukkiah Li Yesh " ("I Have a Hanukkah Menora"), " Kad Katan " ("A Small Jug"), " S'vivon Sov Sov Sov " ("Dreidel, Spin and Spin"), Haneirot Halolu " ("These Candles which we light"), " Mi Yimalel " (Who can Retell") and " Ner Li, Ner Li " ("I have a Candle").

The custom had its origin in the seventeenth-century practice of Polish Jewry to give money to their small children for distribution to their teachers. In time, as children demanded their due, money was also given to children to keep for themselves. Teen-age boys soon came in for their share. According to Magen Avraham (18th cent.), it was the custom for poor yeshiva students to visit homes of Jewish benefactors who dispensed Chanukah money (Orach Chaim 670). The rabbis approved of the custom of giving money on Chanukah because it publicized the story of the miracle of the oil. The Biblical and Historical Background of Jewish Customs and Ceremonies by Abraham P. Bloch. Published by KTAV Publishing House, Inc., 1980. Pp. 277.

Source: Wikipedia > Hanukkah