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FOUR SEASONS BREEZE | DECEMBER 2024 21 By Steve Beno Hanukkah. Chanukah. Hannukah. Chanuka. Chanukkah. Hanuka. Channukah. Chanukka. Crazy?! Huh?! So how am I going to spell it for this piece? At my former temple it was Channukah. But my current temple uses Hanukkah; so that's what I'll go with. But whatever else, the double K is a must according to the rabbi of my former temple. Hanukkah kind of sits in its own category of Jewish holidays. The Torah mentions many of them. And three are given extra significance – Passover, Shavuot (which celebrates the spring harvest), and Sukkot (which honors the autumn fruitfulness of the land). The Jewish New Year is celebrated on the holiday of Rosh Hashanah. Yom Kippur is the day of atonement and is the holiest day of the year. But the most important holy day is Shabbat (Friday sundown to Saturday sundown). All the other celebrations have a particular focus in addition to God. Shabbat is a day of rest when we can think about our relationship to the unknowable. So, what's the deal with Hanukkah?! For one thing, it's not even mentioned in the Torah, the Five Books of Moses. But it does honor a not insignificant event. Here goes: In 175 B.C.E. (Before the Common Era), King Antiochus forbid worship other than of the Greek gods. When Jews refused, the King ordered the destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem. (This was not Solomon's Temple, the first temple of Jerusalem built in the tenth century B.C.E. and destroyed in 586 B.C.E.) The Jews, led by Judah the Maccabee rebelled and defeated Antiochus and his troops. The Jews returned to their ransacked temple only to find enough oil for the temple's oil lamps for one day. But miraculously the oil lasted eight days. (It wasn't until 142 B.C.E. that the continuing battle was settled with a peace treaty giving the Jews their own independent region.) That "miracle" is what Jews celebrate with a special menorah called a hanukkiah. It's made up of eight candles lit successively over eight nights with a ninth candle to do the lighting of the others. (Since Jews can never be content with one answer to any question, some Jews start with all eight lit and take one away each successive night.) Hanukkah is a much bigger deal in the U.S. than in Israel. It's conveniently celebrated around the time of Christmas. Hanukkah also has conveniently become a holiday of gift giving. And speaking of convenience, or is it just coincidence, the first night of Hanukkah this year is the evening of Christmas day. There's a game kids play on Hanukkah. It involves spinning a four-sided top called a dreidel, each side with a Hebrew letter. There are actually rules for the game. Some people even play it for money. I wouldn't challenge my phone by loading all the Christmas apps. Hanukkah is a simpler task. There's a charge for some. The focus of one is solely on the hanukkiah. Fortunately, there is one called Chanukah (sic.) Guide App. I say fortunately because if I couldn't find one, I'd have to scrap this whole column. I'm not sure why this app doesn't explain why we celebrate Hanukkah in the first place. But it does give the Hanukkah blessing in six languages. It gives a detailed explanation of how to properly light the candles, including a video tutorial. Most interesting to me is the inclusion of a timer. The app says it is customary to watch the lit candles for half an hour. You can start the countdown with the press of a button. (This tradition is news to me.) You can even play the dreidel game. In my childhood, we lit the candles every Hanukkah. Gifts were given to me and my sister and brother. Disappointingly, we often received clothing we would have received otherwise, and therefore weren't very special "gifts." So, listen up. When you name your children Stephan, Robin, and Mitchell, you clearly are not planning an observant Jewish household. But we did have a hanukkiah, we did go to Jewish summer camp, my brother and I each became bar mitzvah, and we didn't have a Christmas tree. However, we did have a fireplace, and on Christmas mornings there were three stockings attached to it filled with handy items like crayons, scissors, and other fun things. Do you use an app you'd like to share with others, let me know at steve.benoff@verizon.net. THERE'S AN APP FOR THAT! Dan Quayle Should Have Been Jewish

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