Hanukkah

Hanukkah is an eight-day Jewish festival commemorating the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem after the Maccabean revolt. Its traditions include lighting a nine-branched lamp called a hanukkiah.

Hanukkiah: A nine-branched lamp used during Hanukkah, with one branch for the shamash that lights the others. Lighting its branches across eight nights gives the festival its most visible ritual.
Maccabean Revolt: A Jewish uprising against Seleucid rule and religious persecution in Judea, beginning in 167 BCE. The revolt created the conditions for the Temple's rededication commemorated at Hanukkah.
Hebrew calendar: A lunisolar calendar used to determine Jewish months, festivals, and religious dates. Hanukkah begins on 25 Kislev, a date set by this calendar.
Purim: A Jewish festival commemorating the deliverance of Jews in the Persian Empire as told in the Book of Esther. Both festivals celebrate deliverance, but Purim's story and rituals come from a different historical setting.
Al HaNissim: A prayer of thanksgiving added to Jewish liturgy on Hanukkah and Purim. Its Hanukkah passage recounts the Maccabean victory and Temple rededication.
Second Temple: The Jewish temple in Jerusalem rebuilt after the Babylonian exile and destroyed by Rome in 70 CE. Its restoration as a place of worship is the event Hanukkah commemorates.
Kislev: The ninth month of the Hebrew calendar, usually overlapping November and December. Hanukkah starts on its twenty-fifth day and continues into Tevet.
Sukkot: A week-long Jewish festival associated with the autumn harvest and the Israelites' wilderness journey. One ancient account links Hanukkah's eight days to a delayed celebration of Sukkot.
Hanukkah gelt: Money or chocolate coins traditionally given to children during Hanukkah. The custom makes generosity and celebration part of the festival's household traditions.
Antiochus IV Epiphanes: A Seleucid king who ruled from 175 to 164 BCE and intervened in Jewish religious life. His policies and the desecration of the Temple preceded the revolt remembered at Hanukkah.

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