Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Happy Chanukah

Congratulations to Kathy Serrahn for winning yesterday's trivia contest, to Nance of Jun Bug House for her ingenuity and to:

for winning the random drawing.

If the three of you lovely ladies will e-mail me at ijr41ug @ yahoo.com or iscrapdesigns @ gmail.com (take out the spaces, please) with your choice of free file and I'll send it out to you asap.

Today is the first day of Chanukah.  In honor of that, today's trivia question is:

What does "Chanukkah" mean?

The first person with the correct answer will win their choice of free file and all those who comment will be entered into a random drawing for another free file.

Make sure you visit my friends, Chris and Jan because I know they'll have some fun stuff for you too.

Until next time, Happy Creative Time and, above all, Happy Chanukah!

7 comments:

eorban said...

Oh my, I didn't know, so I did some research:

Chanukah has two meanings. First, and foremost, it means "dedication" because it was on Chanukah that the Bait Hamikdash (Holy Temple) was purified and rededicated to the service of Hashem, in 165 BCE, after many years of pagan defilement. ("BCE" means "before common era.") The other meaning gives us an easy way to remember the Hebrew date of the holiday: "Chanu" means "they rested", and "Kah" (composed of the Hebrew letters for 25 - "Chof and Hay") means "on the twenty fifth" (day of Kislev).

Chanukah is also called "The Festival of Lights" referring to the flames kindled on each night. Chanukah is also called "The Festival of Light." It is the victory of the forces of "light" - which include faith and loyalty to Hashem and the Jewish tradition and the will to fight for these beliefs - over the forces of "darkness," represented by the hedonistic lifestyle of the ancient Syrian-Greeks.

Edwina
eworban@gmail.com

hrk_md said...

The translation of Hanukkah is dedication. The holiday is called the Festival of Lights because of the miracle of the oil. After the Syrians were defeated by a small group of soliders known as the Macabees, they went to rededicate the temple and light the oil in the menorah which was to burn every night in the temple. There was only enough oil to burn for one night, but the miracle was that it burned for eight nights, long enough for new oil to be prepared.

Human to Bear, Boris & Tasha said...

L'Chaim and Mazel Tov to all!

bzyPTmom said...

Hanukkah is the Festival of Lights--and a Happy Hanukkah to all who celebrate it!

Anna said...

I have no idea :O but when I googled it this came up...Hanukkah...So I have no idea LOL But I am loving all this learning so much!!!

Kelly S said...

It means dedication. I just want to say thank you for all of the fun trivia questions. I am learning a lot.

momof5 said...

Well I also had to do a little research. This is what I found: Chanukkah, the Jewish festival of rededication, also known as the festival of lights, is an eight day festival beginning on the 25th day of the Jewish month of Kislev.

Chanukkah is probably one of the best known Jewish holidays, not because of any great religious significance, but because of its proximity to Christmas. Many non-Jews (and even many assimilated Jews!) think of this holiday as the Jewish Christmas, adopting many of the Christmas customs, such as elaborate gift-giving and decoration. It is bitterly ironic that this holiday, which has its roots in a revolution against assimilation and the suppression of Jewish religion, has become the most assimilated, secular holiday on our calendar.