The Chanukah Thread

[Shemtov]

Tonight is the first night of the Jewish festaval of lights, The anniversarry of the rededitacation of the Altar!
If your Jewish light the Chanukiah and spin a Dreidel. Celebrate the Holyday of religous freedom!

Rock of Ages, My Salvation
To You it is pleasing to give praise
Establish the house of my prayer
And there I shall bring a thanksgiving offering
Since you prepared the slaughter
Of the blaspheming foe
Then I shall complete with song
The dedication of the Temple altar

Greeks gathered aginst me
Back in Hasmonean times
They breached the walls of my towers
And defiles all the ritual oils
From a remaining jug
A miracle was performed for the roses
Men of understanding established eight days
Of song and of rejoicing

 

[Timstuff]

Chappy Chanukah, to our Jewish hypsters. May you have a blessed season.

 

[amazingfantasy15]

Tonight is the first night of the Jewish festaval of lights, The anniversarry of the rededitacation of the Altar!
If your Jewish light the Chanukiah and spin a Dreidel. Celebrate the Holyday of religous freedom!

Rock of Ages, My Salvation
To You it is pleasing to give praise
Establish the house of my prayer
And there I shall bring a thanksgiving offering
Since you prepared the slaughter
Of the blaspheming foe
Then I shall complete with song
The dedication of the Temple altar

Greeks gathered aginst me
Back in Hasmonean times
They breached the walls of my towers
And defiles all the ritual oils
From a remaining jug
A miracle was performed for the roses
Men of understanding established eight days
Of song and of rejoicing

I thought you were supposed to light a Menorah

 

[Shemtov]

I thought you were supposed to light a Menorah

Chanukiah is the more correct term for a Menorah.
Menorah describes the seven-pronged candelabra in the Temple. Chanukiah is the 9-pronged Chanukah candleabra.
However, many people use the term "Menorah" for Chanukiah.

 

[LouFerignoDemon]

Happy Holidays to our Jewish Hypesters!!

Don't set yourselves on fire.

Unless you're gonna record it for us to watch. :P

 

[bored]

I have invented a new, Chanukah-themed drinking game involving assigning other people shots via which side of the dreidel you land on. Am testing it out at a party tonight.

 

[Lantern Venom]

Happy Chanukah to all who hold it dear. May God bless you.

 

[Shemtov]

The Channukah Story, for those who don't know and for for those who do too read it again. (i HAVE HEBREW Names in paranthesis.)
After Alexander the Great died, His kingdom split into many parts. one of these parts was the SeleucidEmpire,All of Alexander's empire east of the Meditaranian.
Now, in Judea there was a growing faction of people who became Greek. When Antiochus IV Epphines became king, he welcomed this group, and tried to make every Jew join them. He restricted all religous freedom. Everybody must do 1 act of labor on the sabbath. nobody could learn the Torah. Nobody could give a Bris (circumsision). Everybody had to bring sacrafices to Zeus. Antiuchus sent a genral to enforce these laws, who entered the Temple and placed a statue of Zues in the sanctuary, and broke all the ritual objects.
There was preist in the town of Modin (Modi'in) not far from Jerusalem. His name was Matathias (Matitiyahu) son of Jokanan(Yochanan) the High preist. Matathias had five sons: Eleazar, Simon, Jochanan, and Jonathan (Yohonatan) and the greatest, Judah (Yehudah) called Maccabee, or Macabeus, Aramaic for "Hammer" Mattathias saw a jew being forced to offer an ox to Zues. He killed the greek who forcing the man and stood up and shouted "Whoever is for the LORD, unto me". He and his sons started a rebellion. Mattathias died, and Judah Maccabee became his sucsesor.
Now, the rebellion was very outnumbered. imagine the American revolution make the minutemen a fourth of there size. make the redcoats 5 times there size. Now, Substatute "Jewish Rebels" for minutemen and "Greek Army" For Redcoats. However, the Rebels miraculously won, and Judea was free.
They entered the Temple on the 25th of the Hebrew month of Kislev. They cleansed the altar and destroyed the staute of Zues. they went to light the menorah, the holy candleabra that must burn every night, thru the whole night. They searched and found only one ritual oil jug. It was so small it could only last one night. The closest ritually fit olive grove was a four days journey away. They lit and a Miracle happened: the oil lasted for the 8 days the they needed to get the oil.
Therefore they established Channukah to last the 8 days that the fire burnt in the Temple to comemorate the miracle.

 

[The Battousai]

Did anyone besides me get introduced to Chanukah through the Rugrats special?

 

[Swordmaster]

Nope, I did too.

Their Passover special was better

Happy Chanukah all.

 

[The Battousai]

Yeah - that one was great

I could never get enough of Boris and Minka

 

[Majic Walrus]

Happy Chanukah everyone!

 

[Shemtov]

I forgot another detail about the Greek opression:
The general demanded that all betrothed woman sleep with him the night before theire wedding. So there was wholesale rape going on.

 

[Shemtov]

How people celebrate Chanukah:
Every Jew has a religous obligation to light the Chanukiah. this a 9-pronged symmetrical candlabra. Every night people light the middle ligh, called the shamash. This serves no reliogious function but is there people don't deive benifet from the lights alone, which is forbidden. on the first night people say 3 blessins and light the liht on the far right. Every other night only 2 blessings are said and the numbr of lights reflectng the night are light, starting with the new one. Afterwards a prayer , HaNairos Halalu (These Lights) is siad stating the reason for the lights. Then a hymn, Maoz Tzor (Rock of Ages) is sang.
In Grace after meals and the 3 daily prayers a special prayer is added, Al HaNeesim (for the Miracles).
Every day od Chanukah all Jews must say Psalms 113-118. a group Known as the Hallel (Praise).


To celebrate the miracle, done with olive oil, people eat food fried in olive oil.Jews of European descent (Azkanazic) Eat Latkes, Grated patatoes that are put in batter and Fried. Jews of Middle-eastern descent (Sephardic) prefer deep fried doughnut-like pastries called Sufganiot.

Anoher costum is to spin the Dreidel, a top like object. Inscribed on the dreidels four sides are the hebrew letters Nun (n), Gimel (G), Hah (H) and Shin (SH). standing for Naes Gadol Haya Sham (A great miracle happened then)
In Isreal the letter Pe(p)is incribed instead of the Shin (sh) to stand for Po (Here), instead of Sham (There).
there is also a custom to eat cheese, but more on that later.

 

[terry78]

Every year I ask who the jewish hypesters are, and every year no one comes forward. We can't all be gentiles up in this piece.

 

[Casius--J]

Thanks for posting some info about this holiday, I didnt know the full story behind it just about the oil lasting for 8 days really.

And yeah I'm interested to know if there are any Jewish Hypsters on this board too

 

[StrainedEyes]

My girlfriend is jewish.

 

[Majic Walrus]

How people celebrate Chanukah:
Every Jew has a religous obligation to light the Chanukiah. this a 9-pronged symmetrical candlabra. Every night people light the middle ligh, called the shamash. This serves no reliogious function but is there people don't deive benifet from the lights alone, which is forbidden. on the first night people say 3 blessins and light the liht on the far right. Every other night only 2 blessings are said and the numbr of lights reflectng the night are light, starting with the new one. Afterwards a prayer , HaNairos Halalu (These Lights) is siad stating the reason for the lights. Then a hymn, Maoz Tzor (Rock of Ages) is sang.
In Grace after meals and the 3 daily prayers a special prayer is added, Al HaNeesim (for the Miracles).
Every day od Chanukah all Jews must say Psalms 113-118. a group Known as the Hallel (Praise).


To celebrate the miracle, done with olive oil, people eat food fried in olive oil.Jews of European descent (Azkanazic) Eat Latkes, Grated patatoes that are put in batter and Fried. Jews of Middle-eastern descent (Sephardic) prefer deep fried doughnut-like pastries called Sufganiot.

Anoher costum is to spin the Dreidel, a top like object. Inscribed on the dreidels four sides are the hebrew letters Nun (n), Gimel (G), Hah (H) and Shin (SH). standing for Naes Gadol Haya Sham (A great miracle happened then)
In Isreal the letter Pe(p)is incribed instead of the Shin (sh) to stand for Po (Here), instead of Sham (There).
there is also a custom to eat cheese, but more on that later.

By far the only part of that post I truly understood.

 

[Shemtov]

By far the only part of that post I truly understood.

my keyboard was acting up, and leaving out words.
Heres the fixed version:

How people celebrate Chanukah:
Every Jew has a religous obligation to light the Chanukiah. this is a 9-pronged symmetrical candlabra. Every night people light the middle light, called the shamash. This serves no reliogious function but is there so people don't deive benifet from the lights alone, which is forbidden. on the first night people say 3 blessins and light the light on the far right. Every other night only 2 blessings are said and the number of lights reflectng the night are lit, starting with the new one. Afterwards a prayer , HaNairos Halalu (These Lights) is said. It states the reason for the lights. Then a hymn, Maoz Tzor (Rock of Ages) is sung.
In Grace after meals and the 3 daily prayers a special prayer is added, Al HaNeesim (for the Miracles).
Every day of Chanukah all Jews must say Psalms 113-118, a group Known as the Hallel (Praise).


To celebrate the miracle, which happened with olive oil, people eat food fried in olive oil.Jews of European descent (Azkanazic) Eat Latkes, Grated patatoes that are put in batter and Fried. Jews of Middle-eastern descent (Sephardic) prefer deep fried doughnut-like pastries called Sufganiot.

Anoher costum is to spin the Dreidel, a top like object. Inscribed on the dreidel's four sides are the hebrew letters Nun (n), Gimel (G), Heh (H) and Shin (SH). standing for Naes Gadol Haya Sham (A great miracle happened then)
In Isreal the letter Pe(p)is incribed instead of the Shin (sh) to stand for Po (Here), instead of Sham (There).
there is also a custom to eat cheese, but more on that later.

 

[Shemtov]

So about the cheese:
Catholic posters may be fermiliar with The Apocraphical Book of Judith.
In this book During a war, a Woman named Judith (Yehudit) goes with her loyal maid to the camp of the enemy general, Holofernes, to whom she slowly ingratiates herself, promising him information on the Israelites. Gaining his trust, she is allowed access to his tent one night. she feeds him cheese. The cheese makes him thirsty. She gives him wine to drink And he falls in a drunken stupor. She decapitates him, then takes his head back to her fearful countrymen.
Now, the Catholic version says that it was during the Assyrian wars. However, in traditional Jewish version, it was during the Maccabee Rebellion and it was a major turning piont that allowed the Maccabees to win.
Because this was wrought with cheese, many Jews eat cheese on Hanukkah.

 

[Shemtov]

Chanukah starts on December 1 this year.

 

[Shemtov]

Chanukah starts tonight at sundown.

 

[Ugfugly]

Happy Chaka Khanukah!

 

[SuperFerret]

That's not Kosher.

 

[Ugfugly]

Know what else isn't Kosher?

But really, I have nothing but love for my Jewish brethren.