Hannukah III

Okay, obviously I've gotten ahead of myself about Hannukah. And since I had this silly idea to try to make 8 posts about Hannukah, it's good I'm slowing down and adding this post. Here are the basics. First all Jewish holidays begin the night before their official day on the calendar. So if it were Christmas, Christmas would officially begin on Christmas eve at sundown. I'm not quite sure why the Jewish notion of time works this way or if it's related to their use of a lunar rather than a solar calendar. I should look that up. But that's how they do it. Second, the main prop for the holiday is a nine branch menorah (candelabra basically). The rest of the year you use a menorah with only eight branches, and only at temple, not at home. On the first night you light two candles--one to light the other candles with (the shamash) and one that represents the first night. Then the second night you light three--the first one with the match and then you light the other two with the first one. And so on and so forth until you light all of them on the eighth night. You can't blow them out, which was quite a blow when I was a kid and my only other reference to candles was birthday candles. And while you're lighting them, you sing a blessing. There's actually three parts, but my family only sings the first part. It goes:

Baruch atah Adonai, Eloheinu melech ha-olam, asher kid'shanu b'mitzvotav v'tzivanu l'hadlik neir (shel) chanukah.

Translation: "Praised are You, Lord our God, King of the Universe, Who sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us to kindle the Hanukkah lights."

Thank you wikipedia for having this alliterated for me, and a translation. Coming up: gift-giving, the food, the games, the songs.