What to know about Hanukkah and how it’s celebrated

By PETER SMITH

Hanukkah — also spelled Chanukah or other transliterations from Hebrew — is Judaism’s “festival of lights.” On eight consecutive nightfalls, Jews gather with family and friends to light one additional candle in the menorah — a multibranched candelabra.

In Hebrew, Hanukkah means “dedication.” The holiday marks the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem nearly 2,200 years ago after a small group of Jewish fighters liberated it from occupying foreign forces.

With the tiny supply of ritually pure oil that they found in the temple, they lit the menorah. According to the Talmud, it miraculously remained lit for eight days. The ritual of lighting a nightly candle and the emphasis on cooking foods in oil, such as potato pancakes called latkes, memorialize this holiday.