Saturday, December 20, 2008

First night of Hanukkah

is tonight! We are going to light the first candle, sing Hanukkah songs ( or listen to them) and eat sufganiyot! Yammi! To make it even more fun I decided to have a Hanukkah celebration on my blog - I am going to share some Hanukkah history, picture and giveaways.

What is Hanukkah? From history.com:
Hanukkah is celebrated for eight days and nights, starting on the 25th of Kislev on the Hebrew calendar (which is November-December on the Gregorian calendar). In Hebrew, the word "Hanukkah" means "dedication."
The holiday commemorates the rededication of the holy Temple in Jerusalem after the Jews' 165 B.C.E. victory over the Hellenist Syrians. Antiochus, the Greek King of Syria, outlawed Jewish rituals and ordered the Jews to worship Greek gods.
In 168 B.C.E. the Jews' holy Temple was seized and dedicated to the worship of Zeus.
Some Jews were afraid of the Greek soldiers and obeyed them, but most were angry and decided to fight back.
The fighting began in Modiin, a village not far from Jerusalem. A Greek officer and soldiers assembled the villagers, asking them to bow to an idol and eat the flesh of a pig, activities forbidden to Jews. The officer asked Mattathias, a Jewish High Priest, to take part in the ceremony. He refused, and another villager stepped forward and offered to do it instead. Mattathias became outraged, took out his sword and killed the man, then killed the officer. His five sons and the other villagers then attacked and killed the soldiers. Mattathias' family went into hiding in the nearby mountains, where many other Jews who wanted to fight the Greeks joined them. They attacked the Greek soldiers whenever possible.
Judah Maccabee and his soldiers went to the holy Temple, and were saddened that many things were missing or broken, including the golden menorah. They cleaned and repaired the Temple, and when they were finished, they decided to have a big dedication ceremony. For the celebration, the Maccabees wanted to light the menorah. They looked everywhere for oil, and found a small flask that contained only enough oil to light the menorah for one day. Miraculously, the oil lasted for eight days. This gave them enough time to obtain new oil to keep the menorah lit. Today Jews celebrate Hanukkah for eight days by lighting candles in a menorah every night, thus commemorating the eight-day miracle.




Here is some flickr goodness that I found. Pretty.


1. first night lit up, 2. First night of Hanukkah, 3. 303/365 - Happy Hanukkah!, 4. first night, 5. The first night of Hanukkah..., 6. is it my birthday?, 7. First night of Hanukkah, 5768, 8. Hanukkah, 9. hanukkah ~ and menorah is lit

Created with
fd's Flickr Toys.

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My kids are getting gifts on each day of Hanukkah. And you will too :) I have Cloud 9 Love clear stamps and Stamping Bella Rubbah stamp and emBELLAshments. Post a comment and you will be entered into the random drawing :) The winner will be posted tomorrow.
And now I just want to say - Happy Hanukkah!

26 comments:

  1. Happy Hanukkah to you and your family Maya!

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  2. Lovely Flickr photos! Happy Hanukkah!

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  3. Happy Hanukkah Maya! Thank you for sharing your history with us.

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  4. Happy Hanukkah to you and yours. Love your photos and the baby is so cute!!!!

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  5. Happy Hanukkah Maya.

    For about 10 years we celebrated Hannukkah in our limited way. Even as Christians our family appricates our heritage and this is a beautiful time of the year of celebrating. God bless you and your family.

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  6. Thank you for the Hanukkah lesson. I had no idea of the history. Happy Hanukkah!

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  7. Hi Maya,

    Love your layouts.
    Happy Hannukah from sunny CA.
    Shira

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  8. Happy First night of Hanukkah! Many blessings to you and your family.

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  9. Happy Hanukkah! What a lovely post today. Thank you for sharing all of this interesting history.

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  10. Happy Hanukkah, Maya! I love your Hanukkah card...it's so adorable! May you and your family be blessed this season!

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  11. Happy Hanukkah Maya to you and youre family.Thanks for sharing the History Oh Hanukkah with us.

    Joan fiskateer #808

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  12. Happy Hanukkah Maya! That was a great history lesson. Enjoy your family during this holiday season.

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  13. מאיה, הבלוג שלך פשוט מקסים!!
    דיפדפתי בו קצת וממש התלהבתי!
    חג אורים שמח!!

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  14. Happy Hanukkah! Thanks for sharing!

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  15. happy Hanukkah to you and your family
    thanx for sharing
    i love the blog, and all the photos
    :-)

    nili

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  16. Thank you for sharing your creations and your tutorials. Have a Happy Hanukkah, and come visit Israel soon (miracles do happen, remember?) :-)
    Dorly Weitzen

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  17. חג חנוכה שמח!
    איזה בלוג יפייפה!

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  18. Happy Hanukkah Maya.
    I wish you and your family days (and nights) of light and love.
    Limor

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  19. Happy Hanukkah! (my favorite holiday!)
    nice to know you, your blog seems realy great... :)
    Hadar

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  20. Hi Maya,

    Happy Hanukkah feom Israel!
    your blog seems realy nice!

    Nice to know you,
    Gali.

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  21. Have a Happy Hanukkah !!!
    Warm greetings all the way from Israel.
    Enjoy the Holidays !!!

    Hugs
    Sharon

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  22. האם את מעוניינת לאמץ בחורה בת 22, נקייה,מסודרת, ומכורה לסקראפ?!
    איזה יופי של בלוג!
    וכיף לראות שעל אף שאתם בארה"ב עדיין חוגגים את החג ומשקיעים בו.
    שיהיה חג שמח!
    Happy Hanukka!

    Mya

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  23. What a sweet photo of your little man Maya! He's so adorable!!!

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  24. Happy Hanukkah Maya and thank you for telling the story. I had never heard it exlained in the way you told, only bits and pieces. it is so neat to learn about other cultures, ceremonies, and lifestyles. Have a great time during these next days :)

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  25. Happy Hanukkah- love the card with your lil one!

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