The candelabra should have eight candles in a straight line with a separate holder \u2014 usually high and in the middle \u2014 for the \u201cservant\u201d candle that is used to light the others.<\/p>\n\n
The purpose of Hanukkah menorahs is to publicize the miracle at the heart of the \u201cFestival of Lights,\u201d when tradition says a one-day supply of pure oil burned for eight days after Jewish rebels liberated the temple from their Greek oppressors. Thus, most families place their menorahs in front windows facing a street.<\/p>\n\n
So far, so good.<\/p>\n\n
The lighting of the first candle should be at sundown on the first night of the eight-day season, which begins on Friday (Dec. 15) this year. Hanukkah candles should burn at least 30 minutes and it\u2019s forbidden to use their light for any purpose other than viewing or meditating.<\/p>\n\n
Blessings are recited before the first candle is lit, starting with: \u201cBlessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who has sanctified us by His commandments, and has commanded us to kindle the lights of Hanukkah.\u201d Each night, another candle is added \u2014 with eight burning at the end of the season.<\/p>\n\n
That\u2019s it. That\u2019s what Jews are supposed to do during Hanukkah. They\u2019re supposed to light the candles and give thanks to God.<\/p>\n\n
It\u2019s all about lights shining in darkness.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cThis is a simple holiday with a simple message and it isn\u2019t supposed to be all that complicated,\u201d said Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb, executive vice president of the Orthodox Union, the largest umbrella group for Orthodox Jews in North America.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cYou come home from work, you light the candles, you say the blessings and then you sit down with your kids and play games with dreidels. \u2026 It\u2019s pretty small stuff compared with all of the emotions of Passover.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
Some Jewish families will sing Hanukkah songs and fry some potato pancakes called \u201clatkes,\u201d homemade donuts or other festive foods using hot oil \u2014 a key symbol in the season. Many parents give their children small gifts each night, such as coins or chocolates wrapped in gold foil to resemble coins.<\/p>\n\n
This is where, for many, the Hanukkah bandwagon starts to get out of control. As the Jewish Outreach Institute Hanukkah website bluntly states: \u201cHanukkah is the most widely celebrated American Jewish holiday, possibly because it is a fun, child-centered occasion.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
Everyone knows why Hanukkah keeps getting bigger and bigger, said Weinreb, who also has worked as a psychologist specializing in family issues.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cHow can a Jewish kid growing up in America or anywhere else in the Western world not get swept up, to one degree or another, in the whole business of Christmas? The music is everywhere and the decorations are everywhere. Many of your school friends are having parties and they\u2019re all excited about the gifts they\u2019re going to get,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cFrom a Jewish perspective, all of this is a rabbi\u2019s worst nightmare. You want to find a way to say, \u2018That\u2019s not us.\u2019 But, in the end, many people lose control.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
Before you know it, someone else\u2019s Christmas tree turns into a holiday tree and, finally, into something called a Hanukkah bush.<\/p>\n\n
The end result is ironic, to say the least. Hanukkah is supposed to be a humble holiday about the need for Jews to resist compromising their beliefs in order to assimilate into a dominant culture. However, for many families it has become the biggest event on the Jewish calendar \u2014 because it is so close to the all-powerful cultural earthquake that some people still call \u201cChristmas.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
Those old-fashioned notions about giving children a few modest Hanukkah gifts have evolved into expectations of a nightly procession of toys, clothing and electronic goodies. And, in many of America\u2019s 2.5 million households with one Jewish parent and one Christian parent, the rites of the shopping mall have been blended to create the pop-culture reality called \u201cChrismukkah.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
All of this is easy to understand and hard to resist.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cOne gift a night for eight nights is just commercialism, pure and simple. That has more to do with Toys \u2018R\u2019 Us than it does with Judaism,\u201d said Weinreb. \u201cHanukkah is not the Jewish Christmas and we all know that. Hanukkah is what it is. We just need to do what we are supposed to do and let the holiday take care of itself.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The candelabra should have eight candles in a straight line with a separate holder \u2014 usually high and in the middle \u2014 for the \u201cservant\u201d candle that is used to light the others. The purpose of Hanukkah menorahs is to publicize the miracle at the heart of the \u201cFestival of Lights,\u201d when tradition says a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":610,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[82,206,254,293,415,430,1538],"class_list":["post-1416","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-assimilation","tag-christmas","tag-commercialism","tag-december-dilemma","tag-hanukkah","tag-holidays","tag-judaism"],"yoast_head":"\n