Good Question: What is Hanukkah?
MINNEAPOLIS — Tuesday marks the sixth night of Hanukkah, a Jewish celebration marking the re-dedication of a holy temple.
From candles to colors, WCCO's Kirsten Mitchell answers Good Questions about the "Festival of Lights."
Rabbi Macia Zimmerman of Temple Israel says it's a celebration of both history and legend dating back to the second century BCE, when jews in Israel overcame oppressive Greek rule and reclaimed the second temple.
They found oil for the menorah that was thought to only last for one day, but miraculously, it burned for eight.
The ninth candle on the menorah is called the shamash, which means the helper candle. It's used to light to other candles each night, but that's not its only purpose.
"Its' also present because we're only supposed to talk about Hanukkah when the candle is burning, and one might not always do that, so the ninth candle allows us for that differential," Zimmerman said.
Many Jewish holiday and traditions start a sundown. How come?
"We are an ancient, ancient, ancient tradition," Zimmerman said. "We didn't have a clock that said a new day begins at this time, so what we did was start every Jewish holiday at sundown because it's something you can mark."
Are there official colors of Hanukkah?
"Blue and white is often what you see in Jewish homes or synagogues, and it has to do with a biblical text," Zimmerman explained. "The biblical text is the prayer shawl called the tallit, had a blue ribbon."
Today, people celebrate Hanukkah by sharing blessings, eating fried foods, playing dreidel, giving gifts and chocolate coins called gelt and singing songs.
Zimmerman says it is a joyous celebration of Jewish pride.
"Today, with the rise of antisemitism, Hanukkah is a really important reaffirmation of our pride in our Jewish history and our pride in our Judaism ritually, historically and, today, who we are," Zimmerman said.
The eight-day celebration ends at nightfall on Friday.