New York, NY – American Jews lit the first candle of Hanukkah on Tuesday evening to begin the eight-day Jewish festival of lights, one of the jewish most popular holidays.
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Hanukkah, which features presents, jelly-filled doughnuts and potato pancakes, commemorates the rededication of the Jewish Second Temple in Jerusalem in 164 B.C.E. after its desecration by the Syrian Greeks. when the victorious force of Judah Maccabee tried to rekindle the Temple candelabra, or menorah, they found only one day’s worth of olive oil. But tradition says the oil burned for eight days.
For many Jewish people, the holiday symbolizes their triumphs against great odds.
Observant Jews light the menorah each night to mark the holiday.
Along with doughnuts, Jews eat large quantities of potato pancakes as part of the festivities. According to tradition, the pancakes are fried in olive oil, after the oil that lit the temple’s candelabra.
Ahead of the holiday, some newspapers carried suggestions on how to lose weight gained from all the fried food.
Doughnut recipes!
I went through megilas antiochus, the gemara in mesechtas Shabbos, shulchan orech, etc, Where is the chiyuv to eat doughnuts?
is weight watchers running a chanukah special?
Hey Shlomah, why don’t you post the link to where we can find out how to watch our weight after eating all the shmaltzy goodies.