Hanukkah[a] (/ˈhænəkə/, /ˈhɑːnəkə/; חֲנֻכָּה‎ Ḥănukkā listenⓘ) is a Jewish festival commemorating the recovery of Jerusalem and subsequent rededication of the Second Temple at the beginning of the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire in the 2nd century BCE.

Nevertheless, Hanukkah has attained major cultural significance in North America and elsewhere, especially among secular Jews, due to often occurring around the same time as Christmas during the festive season.

[34] The Talmud presents three options:[35] Except in times of danger, the lights were to be placed outside one's door, on the opposite side of the mezuza, or in the window closest to the street.

[44] King Antiochus III the Great, wanting to conciliate his new Jewish subjects, guaranteed their right to "live according to their ancestral customs" and to continue to practice their religion in the Temple of Jerusalem.

It started with Mattathias killing first a Jew who wanted to comply with Antiochus's order to sacrifice to Zeus, and then a Greek official who was to enforce the government's behest (1 Mac.

[52] Maimonides (12th century) described Hanukkah as follows: When, on the twenty-fifth of Kislev, the Jews had emerged victorious over their foes and destroyed them, they re-entered the Temple where they found only one jar of pure oil, enough to be lit for only a single day; yet they used it for lighting the required set of lamps for eight days, until they managed to press olives and produce pure oil.

Selected battles between the Maccabees and the Seleucid Syrian-Greeks: Hanukkah is celebrated with a series of rituals that are performed every day throughout the eight-day holiday, some are family-based and others communal.

Fried foods—such as latkes (potato pancakes), jelly doughnuts (sufganiyot) and Sephardic bimuelos—are eaten to commemorate the importance of oil during the celebration of Hanukkah.

Some also have a custom of eating dairy products to remember Judith and how she overcame Holofernes by feeding him cheese, which made him thirsty, and giving him wine to drink.

[85] An extra light called a shammash, meaning "attendant" or "sexton",[86] is also lit each night, and is given a distinct location, usually higher, lower, or to the side of the others.

Only when there was danger of antisemitic persecution were lamps supposed to be hidden from public view, as was the case in Persia under the rule of the Zoroastrians,[26] or in parts of Europe before and during World War II.

[110] Transliteration: Barukh ata Adonai Eloheinu, melekh ha'olam, asher kid'shanu b'mitzvotav v'tzivanu l'hadlik ner Hanukkah.

Transliteration: Barukh ata Adonai Eloheinu, melekh ha'olam, she'asa nisim la'avoteinu ba'yamim ha'heim ba'z'man ha'ze.

Translation: "Blessed are You, LORD our God, King of the universe, Who performed miracles for our ancestors in those days at this time..." After the lights are kindled the hymn Hanerot Halalu is recited.

According to the teachings of Kabbalah and Hasidism, this day is the final "seal" of the High Holiday season of Yom Kippur and is considered a time to repent out of love for God.

In this spirit, many Hasidic Jews wish each other Gmar chatimah tovah ("may you be sealed totally for good"), a traditional greeting for the Yom Kippur season.

[125] Some Hasidic scholars teach that the Hanukkah is in fact the final conclusion of God's judgment extending High Holy Days of Rosh Hashana when humanity is judged and Yom Kippur when the judgment is sealed: It is customary for women not to work for at least the first half-hour of the candles' burning, and some have the custom not to work for the entire time of burning.

Sephardi, Polish, and Israeli families eat jam-filled doughnuts (Yiddish: פּאָנטשקעס pontshkes), bimuelos (fritters) and sufganiyot which are deep-fried in oil.

[134] Latkes are not popular in Israel, having been largely replaced by sufganiyot due to local economic factors, convenience and the influence of trade unions.

[138] This custom, as mentioned above, commemorates the heroism of Judith during the Babylonian captivity of the Jews and reminds us that women also played an important role in the events of Hanukkah.

[140] Roast goose has historically been a traditional Hanukkah food among Eastern European and American Jews, although the custom has declined in recent decades.

[141] Indian Jews traditionally consume gulab jamun, fried dough balls soaked in a sweet syrup, similar to teiglach or bimuelos, as part of their Hanukkah celebrations.

Syrian Jews consume Kibbet Yatkeen, a dish made with pumpkin and bulgur wheat similar to latkes, as well as their own version of keftes de prasa spiced with allspice and cinnamon.

The tradition of giving Chanukah gelt dates back to a long-standing East European custom of children presenting their teachers with a small sum of money at this time of year as a token of gratitude.

In 1979 President Jimmy Carter took part in the first public Hanukkah candle-lighting ceremony of the National Menorah held across the White House lawn.

[clarification needed] First, the rabbis wrote after Hasmonean leaders had led Judea into Rome's grip and so may not have wanted to offer the family much praise.

One thing is clear: if those tiny, modest candles had been extinguished in Diaspora times, if our grandparents had not preserved the traditions of Hanukkah in the synagogue and at home .

Rabbi Shmuel Mohilever, an early religious Zionist, proposed making Hanukkah the official holiday of the proto-Zionist organization Hovevei Zion in Russia in 1881.

Both the Israeli and North American versions of Hanukkah emphasize resistance, focusing on some combination of national liberation and religious freedom as the defining meaning of the holiday.

[174] In December 2022, New York City Mayor Eric Adams, Reverends Al Sharpton and Conrad Tillard, businessman Robert F. Smith, Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, and Elisha Wiesel joined to celebrate Hanukkah and Kwanzaa together, and combat racism and antisemitism, at Carnegie Hall.