It is the fourth time since 1900 that the Jewish festival Hanukkah is being celebrated during the Christmas season, which ends on the Feast of the Epiphany or the baptism of Jesus on Jan. 5. 

This year, Hanukkah began at sundown on Dec. 25 and will end on Jan. 2. (The date of the holiday is based on the Hebrew month of Kislev that usually occurs in November-December in the Gregorian calendar, the one used in the Philippines and other countries.)

Hanukkah, derived from the Hebrew word meaning “to dedicate,” is known as the Feast of Dedication or Rededication and also as the Festival of Lights. It is celebrated by lighting a menorah, a multi-branched candelabrum, with one candle each night. It is a joyful way to remember a historic moment: God’s miracle for the Jews.

In 163 BC, the Jews led by the Maccabees reclaimed their temple after defeating the Greek army that had captured and occupied Jerusalem. They only had enough holy oil to relight the temple’s menorah and let it burn for a day, but it burned for eight days. This miracle is the reason for the eight-day festival of Hanukkah.

Light over darkness

Pawel Lachowitzki, 25, a Catholic Christian and Jew from Beersheba, the largest city in southern Israel, affirms the celebration of Hanukkah as a miracle for the Jewish people.

“The meaning of Hanukkah is the victory of light over darkness. Victory of good over evil,” Pawel tells CoverStory.ph in an online interview. “Hanukkah is a holiday full of miracles.  This holiday commemorates the victory of the Maccabees with God’s help over those Greeks who tried to wipe Judaism off the face of the earth.” 

Pawel was born to Jewish parents and had his bar mitzvah when he was 13. His journey of faith, however, led him to be baptized as a Christian when he was 18. In terms of religion, he identifies as a Catholic Christian.  In terms of nationality, he considers himself part of the Jewish nation and people.

“I believe Jesus is my Lord and redeemer, my friend and my brother,” says Pawel. At the same time, he is proud of his Jewish roots, and cherishes his Polish grandmother, a survivor of the Holocaust, as well as the victory of the Maccabees celebrated in Hanukkah.

The victory of light and good that Pawel refers to has to do with what the Jews achieved against Seleucid king Antiochus IV Epiphanes. (The Seleucid Empire was a Greek state successor to Alexander the Great’s Macedonian Empire.)

As detailed in 1 Maccabees and 2 Maccabees, which are included as canons or holy books in the Catholic Bible, Antiochus desecrated and plundered the temple in Jerusalem, suppressed Judaism and imposed pagan worship. 

Jews were compelled to “forsake the laws of their ancestors and no longer to live by the laws of God,” and the temple in Jerusalem was called the temple of the Olympian Zeus. Jews were also compelled to celebrate the festival of Dionysus. They could not keep the Sabbath or observe their Jewish festivals; they could not declare themselves Jews.  Mothers who had their sons circumcised were killed in public along with their baby sons (2 Maccabees 6).

Miracle of the oil

After the victory against Antiochus, the temple was cleansed, restored, and purified. A new altar was installed and dedicated—and the miracle of the oil that burned for eight days occurred. 

It was then proclaimed that henceforth, the dedication of the restored temple would be celebrated every year for eight days. The celebration was first compared to the  eight-day festival of Sukkoth (or the Feast of Tabernacles or Feast of Booths), which the Jews were unable to observe because of Antiochus’ invasion; it eventually evolved into the festival to remember the miracle of the burning oil. 

Pawel has happy memories of celebrating Hanukkah with his family in Beersheba. “For me, Hanukkah is a very, very special holiday because I was born on the third candle of Hanukkah,” he says.

Before he was born there was a squabble between his siblings on the lighting of the candles during Hanukkah.  His brother would light the first candle, his sister would light the second candle, but there was no agreement on who would light the third to the eighth candles. This ended, of course, when he was born.

“Every evening for eight days we mark eight days of the celebrations of the renovation of the altar in the temple after the Greeks desecrated it.  It’s a family time,” Pawel says.

Through the ages, much of the Hanukkah activities take place at home.  The most important of is the lighting of the menorah each evening. Also known as the Hanukkah lamp (Hebrew: ḥanukkiyah), this special variety of menorah recalls the temple candelabrum with eight branches plus a holder for the “servant” candle (shammash) that is used to light the other eight candles.

As is practiced by Pawel and his family, one candle is lit on the first evening and another is lit on subsequent evenings until eight candles are burning on the last evening. Olive oil was traditionally used for lighting the menorah, but it has since been replaced by candles.  The menorah was originally kindled outside the home, but the ritual was brought inside in ancient times to guard against offending neighbors.

Food to eat and share

And as in any other festival, there is a lot of food to eat and share. It is traditional to eat food fried in oil to celebrate Hanukkah.

“We cook donuts and many foods related to oil to remember the miracle of the tin of oil that for eight days gave light in the temple in a miraculous way. We are making potato fritters, chocolate coins and lots of sweets,” says Pawel.

According to MyJewish.com, the most familiar Hanukkah foods are the European latkes and the Israeli favorite, sufganiyot.  Latkes can be made with grated, shredded, or mashed potatoes. Sufganiyot are deep-fried jelly doughnuts made with apricot or raspberry jam.

Also during Hanukkah, “children receive pocket money from their parents for the first time,” Pawel says.  “The money teaches the children to give charity to the poor.“

The giving to children of small amounts of money as well as nuts and raisins is a fairly new tradition. MyJewishLearning.com says: “Under the influence of Christmas, which takes place around the same time of year, Hanukkah has evolved into the central gift-giving holiday in the Jewish calendar in the Western world.”

Interfaith engagement

Though a very popular tradition, Hanukkah is not biblically ordained and the liturgy for the holiday is not well developed, according to MyJewishLearning.com. Are new practices possible? For example, can Christians and Jews celebrate Hanukkah together?

A report by the Associated Press states that for some rabbis, the intersection of the two religious holidays this year provides an auspicious occasion for interfaith engagement.

AP quotes Rabbi Josh Stanton, a vice president of the Jewish Federations of North America, as saying: “This can be a profound opportunity for learning and collaboration and togetherness. The goal is not proselytizing; it’s learning deeply from each other.” AP also cites a report of Jews and Latinos having a “Chicanukkah” party.

But Pawel, who considers himself a Catholic Christian and a Jew, says: “I don’t think Christians need to celebrate Hanukkah, but I would definitely strongly recommend Christians to participate in the celebrations together with Jews and take inspiration from it.”

Merry Christmas! Chag Sameach! (Happy Hanukkah!) Happy holidays!Minerva Generalao and Pawel Lachowitzki were classmates in the monthlong study of Devarim (or the Book of Deuteronomy) in July 2023 at ISPS-Ratisbonne Bat Kol Christian Center for Jewish Studies in Jerusalem. —Ed.