Hanukkah, the Jewish Festival of Lights, began at sundown on December 16, 2014 and runs for eight days with menorah lightings and celebrations across the world. Hanukkah commemorates the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem and the Maccabean Revolt against the Hellenic Seleucid Empire of the second century BCE. Jews celebrate Hanukkah by lightning a special candelabrum, the nine-branched menorah, and by giving gifts and playing a game with the famous dreidel top.
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© AP Photo / PRNewsFoto/Jewish News Agency
Hanukkah is observed for eight nights and days, starting the 25th day of the Jewish month of Kislev. The holiday may occur at any time from late November to late December, according to the Gregorian calendar. This year, Hanukkah began on December 16.
Above: The World's Largest Chanukah Menorah on Fifth Avenue by Central Park.
Above: The World's Largest Chanukah Menorah on Fifth Avenue by Central Park.
Hanukkah celebrates the 2nd century BCE victory of a small Judean rebel group, known as Maccabees, over the powerful Greek army that occupied the Holy Land. The revolt was a response to the Seleucid Empire’s attempt to force Jews to worship the Greek Gods.
Above: Members of Hungary's Jewish community gather to celebrate Hanukkah and to light the first candle on the menorah in downtown Budapest December 16, 2014.
Above: Members of Hungary's Jewish community gather to celebrate Hanukkah and to light the first candle on the menorah in downtown Budapest December 16, 2014.
The holiday also commemorates another miracle. When the Maccabees liberated the Holy Temple of the Greek rulers, they found only a small amount of oil, which was sufficient to light the Menorah only for one day. The miracle was that the oil burned for eight nights and days.
Above: A giant menorah stands in front of a Christmas tree at the Brandenburg gate to celebrate Hanukkah in Berlin December 16, 2014.
Above: A giant menorah stands in front of a Christmas tree at the Brandenburg gate to celebrate Hanukkah in Berlin December 16, 2014.
Hanukkah is observed by the kindling of the light of a special candelabrum, called the menorah, with one additional candle lit on each night of the festival. The tradition symbolizes the triumph of light over darkness and injustice.
Above: An ultra-Orthodox Jewish man lights a candle on the third night of the holiday of Hanukkah in the southern city of Ashdod December 18, 2014.
Above: An ultra-Orthodox Jewish man lights a candle on the third night of the holiday of Hanukkah in the southern city of Ashdod December 18, 2014.
Other Hanukkah customs include giving gifts, eating oil based foods such as doughnuts and latkes, and playing games with a four-sided spinning top, called a dreidel.
Above: A dreidel.
Above: A dreidel.
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© East News / AP Photo/Oded Balilty
Hanukkah became more widely celebrated from the 1970s, when the Lubavitcher Rabbi Menachem M. Shneerson called for public awareness of the festival and encouraged the lighting of public menorah.
Above: An ultra-Orthodox Jewish man lights candles during the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah in the ultra-Orthodox city of Bnei Brak near Tel Aviv, Israel on December 18, 2014.
Above: An ultra-Orthodox Jewish man lights candles during the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah in the ultra-Orthodox city of Bnei Brak near Tel Aviv, Israel on December 18, 2014.
On Hanukkah, it is customary to serve foods fried in oil, as oil plays the central role in the festival.
Above: A sufganiyah, a round jelly doughnut eaten on Hanukkah.
Above: A sufganiyah, a round jelly doughnut eaten on Hanukkah.
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© AP Photo / Khin Maung Win
This year, the world’s largest menorah is set up in New York. On December 16, NYC mayor Bill de Blasio joined hundreds of Jewish community residents to light the giant candelabrum at Grand Army Plaza in Brooklyn.
Above: Local followers celebrating Hanukkah at the Jewish Musmeah Yeshua Synagogue in Yangon, Myanmar.
Above: Local followers celebrating Hanukkah at the Jewish Musmeah Yeshua Synagogue in Yangon, Myanmar.
One of the festival customs is giving Hanukkah gelt which means "Hanukkah money" and refers to real money as well as to chocolate coins given to children. The tradition stems from the Maccabees’ victory over the Greeks when Jews started minting their own coins.
Above: Hanukkah gelt.
Above: Hanukkah gelt.
Chanukah and Hanukkah are the same. There are 16 different spelling variations for the holiday. The word means "dedication" or "induction".
Above: A giant menorah stands next to a Christmas tree in front of the Brandenburg gate to celebrate Hanukkah in Berlin December 16, 2014.
Above: A giant menorah stands next to a Christmas tree in front of the Brandenburg gate to celebrate Hanukkah in Berlin December 16, 2014.
