Celebrate Hanukkah

December is such a special time of the year here in Israel when the air is fragrant with the smell of the holidays.

Hanukkah is one of the most loved holidays for adults and for children. There is gold wrapped chocolate coins-candies, potato latkes and delicious sweet donuts on every corner, there is gifts for kids and lively bright spinning dreidels but most importantly, the lights are filling our houses.

                                   Menorah by FleetingStillness

Hanukkah is the holiday of light. Light the first candle on your menorah as soon as the sun will go down on December 20th and light the rest, one each night until the night of the Hanukkah. Light your last candle, say the hallel and let your hearts to be filled with the light.

Let's celebrate!

             Photos from left to right: visart, reginao, CrystalFrog, aniutik

By Regina Reginao and Tanya Socksandmittens

Wonderful things wednesday - Hanukkah

Hanukkah begins on the 25th of Jewish month Kislev which falls on December 2nd this year. The word Hanukkah means "dedication" in Hebrew, and this holiday commemorates the re-dedication of the holy Temple in Jerusalem following the Jewish victory over the Syrian-Greeks.

Jews believe that a miracle occured during the re-dedicatipon of the temple. There was only enough oil to light the temple's menorah for one day. Miraculously, flame remained lit for eight days and nights, giving enough time to find more oil to sustain the fire.

Hanukkah is also called the "Festival of Lights" and its celebrations include games, gifts, eating traditional foods and lighting a new candle on the menorah each night.

In our previous post we placed a question:
How many candles do you need to light the menorah for all 8 days? Do not forget that each evening you need the shamash…

Here is the answer:

Te Great Light - Menorah for Hanukkah - Earth Colors by Visart

Jerusalem Menorah - Stained Glass Gift for Hanukkah by FleetingStillness

Framed Embroidery on Hand Painted Silk - HOLY LAND by FineEmbroidery


Set of six grape bunch with leaf wine charms by Beautyland


Amber Sterling Silver Earrings by Lirigal

Story by Alla FleetingStillness

Magical time of Hanukkah

Story by Svetlana (Lirigal)


Hanukkah is a Jewish light festival that starts on the 25th day of the Jewish month of Kislev and lasts for 8 days. This holiday commemorates the re-dedication of the holy Temple in Jerusalem following the Jewish victory over the Syrian-Greeks.

After their victory, Jewish troops came back to the Temple in Jerusalem. They wanted to spiritually purify the Temple by cleaning it and then burning ritual oil in the Temple's menorah for eight days. However, there was only one day's worth of oil left in the Temple. They lit the menorah anyway and by miracle the small amount of oil lasted for eight days.


To celebrate this miracle every year Jews light a special menorah known as a hanukkiyah for eight days. One candle is lit on the first day, two - on the second, three - on the third, and so on, until eight candles are lit. The candles are placed in the menorah from right to left, but lit from left to right. Special blessings are recited each night before the lights are lit. A special candle called shamash is used to light the other candles every night.


It is customary to give kids gifts and money during Hanukkah. In our family this tradition is preserved by grandma and grandpa. Kids are off school during the holidays, and adults go to work and rush back home in the evening. We gather the whole family together and light the Hanukkah candles at sunset. My husband recites the blessings. We listen to the ancient language and thank God for granting a miracle to our ancestors many centuries ago. We also give thanks for giving us life, supporting us and allowing us to reach this day.

After that the kids sing Hanukkah songs and we drink tea with jelly doughnuts. Jelly doughnuts without the hole are called Sufganiyot. They're dropped into hot oil without being shaped and are then covered in powdered sugar and/or cinnamon. Sufganiyot are a traditional Hanukkah dish.



I learned to make the dough for Sufganiyot especially to be able to make this treat for my family. We start to make and fry jelly doughnuts early in the morning, and there is always enough dough for the doughnuts, and left over for pizza and pirozhki - and this is also a miracle!

Hanukkah is a wonderful holiday, full of light, family love and wonderful smell of Sufganiyot!

And now a quiz:
How many candles do you need to light the menorah for all 8 days? Do not forget that each evening you need the shamash…

The answer to this question will be posted on coming Wednesday, December 1st!