Every year our friends Dave and Rose invite a few of their friends to celebrate Hanukkah with them. It’s always a fun dinner party and a chance for friends and family to get together over the holidays with good food and good company.

This is the third year we have attended this fun Hanukkah dinner and our whole family always looks forward to it.

Last Year’s Hanukkah Party at Dave & Rose’s Dec. 13th – 2015:

Celebrating Hanukkah at Dave & Rose’s Dec. 21st 2014:

The Story of Hanukkah:

Since Hanukkah is such an important observance in the Jewish faith, I wanted to get a deeper understanding of this special celebration, and this is what I learnt.

The story of Hanukkah dates back 2000 years at a time when Israel and the surrounding areas were under the rule of the Syrian-Greek Empire, which was dominated by the Seleucid Empire. Under the rule of Emperor Seleucus IV, the Seleucids tried to force Jews to accept Greek culture and beliefs. In revolt, an army of  Jews led by Judah the Maccabee defeated the Seleucids and drove them out of Israel and reclaimed the Holy Temple in Jerusalem.

The legend recounts that after the victory of the Maccabees in Jerusalem, they could only find a small jug of oil and just enough of it to light the menorah in the temple for one day. But miraculously the oil lasted eight days until more oil could be procured.

Hanukkah is observed for eight nights and days every winter between November and December based on the Jewish calendar. The celebration marks the victory of the Maccabees army over the Syrian-Greek empire and the miracle of the one-day supply of oil lasting for eight days at the Holy Temple. During Hanukkah friends and family gather to celebrate the festival and light the menorah.

The importance of the Menorah:

The Hanukkah festival is observed by lighting a menorah every day for eight days. The typical menorah is a candelabra that has eight branches with an additional branch at the center that is used to light the other candles. The Menorah’s eight branches represent the miraculous eight day supply of oil at the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. Menorah stands for light, wisdom, and divine inspiration.

What does it mean to spin the Dreidel during Hanukkah Celebrations?

When Rose and Dave sent their Hanukkah invitation last year, it read: “You are invited to join us for a Hanukkah celebration and spin the Dreidel.”  I had no idea what a Dreidel was. As it turns out a Dreidel is a fun four-sided spinning topper that is played by children during Hanukkah celebrations.

The Dreidel is unique in that unlike a regular topper,

A Dreidel has Hebrew letters N G H and S imprinted on each side. These letters are an abbreviation for the Hebrew words Nes Gadol Haya Sham meaning “A great miracle happened there”  which refers to the legend of the eight-day replenishing oil that took place at the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. For more information on the Dreidel, check out this link The Dreidel from chabad.org

Celebrating Hanukkah Dec. 30th – 2016

This year’s Hanukkah celebration at Dave and Rose’s was just as much fun as previous years, filled with laughter, delicious food, drinks, and awesome company.

There was plenty of food and laughter to keep the Hanukkah celebrations going all evening long 🎂🍷.

Somehow jokes about wives and husbands bickering always get a lot of laughs 😀😃😃.

2016 Hanukkah celebration was another fabulous evening at our dear friends Dave and Rose’s home.

We look forward to celebrating Hanukkah again in 2017!

Happy Hanukkah!

For all the web sites I referenced while writing this story check out these links. The story of Hanukkah  What is Hanukkah  What is dreidel  What is a menorah