Hanukkah, the eight-day celebration beloved by Jewish families, begins on the 25th day of the month of Kislev in the Hebrew calendar (the exact dates in November or December vary each year). Families
light candles each evening at sundown while reciting blessings, and eat traditional foods and give small gifts.
Instructions
Difficulty: Moderately Easy
1. Decorate your house in blue, white and silver, the traditional colors of Israel. Yon will also want to display time-honored Hanukkah items, such as chocolate gelt (Yiddish for money) and dreidels (tops for an ancient gambling game).
2. Set up the menorah. This particular candelabra has nine branches, one for each night plus one at a different height to hold the shamas candle. The shamas, - "servant," is lit with a match and used to light all the other candles on the menorah.
3. Say the blessings. There are three significant blessings to speak during the eight days. Print and keep them in a special book to open during the lighting of the candles. Then print out the words to the traditional Hanukkah song "Maoz Tzur" (translation: "Rock of Ages").
4. Prepare the menu. The centerpiece is always the potato latkes fried in oil (representing the oil found in the temple); serve with applesauce and sour cream. In Israel, Jews feast on sufganiyot (jelly doughnuts).
5. Give inexpensive but thoughtful gifts, one for each of the eight days. Some families who can spend only one of the eight days together choose to buy one present to exchange that night. Consider a gift exchange is also popular.
6. Play the dreidel game.
- The dreidel, a four-sided top, is the centerpiece of an easy game that uses coins or nuts for betting.
- The Hebrew letters carved or painted on each side correspond to what the player must do: nun (do nothing), he (take half of the kitty), gimel (take the kitty), and shin (lose what you bet). Ante up!
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