Moonbear said:
Is it true that it's actually a fairly minor holiday in the Jewish religion? I've been told that before, and that the only reason it's such a big deal in the US is the desire of the parents to keep up with the gifts their kids Christian friends will be getting.
Hanukkah, if I'm correct, is not commanded by the holy scriptures. This is because it celebrates a fairly recent event in Jewish history, an uprising against the Greeks that occurred in 167-164 BCE, and the books describing it, both Maccabees and Daniel, were not included in the Old Testament. The first day of the holiday marks the anniversary of the liberation of the Temple in Jerusalem and the renewal of worship there. Later, the religious authorities added the miracle of the urn of oil (a holiday without a miracle is a holiday not worth having, apparently), in which they described how the single urn of oil that was found in the abandoned Temple sufficed for lighting the Menorah for 8 days and 8 nights - the time it took to produce new oil.
It gained importance in modern times due to two reasons, one of which you described. The other reason is that because of its connotation, i.e. a victory of the Jewish people over the Greeks and their supporters, it was embraced by Zionism as "its" holiday. The song I quoted is one of many Hannukah songs written with Zionist connotations, here's my rough translation for another famous one, also performed on Independence Day during the beacon-lighting ceremony:
We carry torches in dark nights,
the paths shine beneath our feet,
- those whose hearts thirst for the light
will look and come to us, to our light,
come!
A miracle did not befall us, an urn of oil did we not find,
To the valley we walked, up the mountain we climbed,
Fountains of hidden light did we discover,
A miracle did not befall us, an urn of oil did we not find,
The rock we chiseled till we bled, and there was light.
Moonbear said:
It amazes me how much has changed about the way the holiday is celebrated in my own lifetime. When I was a kid, the Jewish kids would light a candle in the Hannukah each night (the youngest in the family, right?), and had a special dinner on one of the nights (is it the first or last night that's the big deal?), and would get little bags of Hannukah gelt. There were no huge presents for each night like they get now. By the time I was a teen and into my early 20s, they were already exchanging gifts, but it would just be something very small for 7 of the 8 nights (sort of the equivalent of Christmas stocking stuffers) and then one present on the 8th night. It seems to have morphed more into the kids getting a big present each night now, and decorating with Hannukah "bushes," which look suspiciously like Christmas trees decorated in white and blue ornaments. In a way, it's interesting to have seen such change over such a short number of years, because it demonstrates a bit of how easy it probably was to introduce things like evergreen trees into early Christmas celebrations too.
It's usually the little guys that light the Hannukiah because they're so cute when they do it! It's usually the first and last nights that get the most attention, but there's no real distinction between the 8 nights traditionally.
Your description of the way it's morphed is interesting, I had no idea it was like that, what a huge difference!
Hanukkah is very relaxed here because unlike other holidays, Judaism doesn't prohibit anything but mourning. On Passover, the only other long holiday, shops in areas with a Jewish majority are not allowed to present or sell chametz (anything made with 5 types of grain - including beer!), which is a real downer, since by the time it ends those who practice these prohibitions are left a little fatter and a lot more constipated.
