Hanukka

I 've been reading about the Jewish festival of Hanukka.My Jewish friend Teddy talks about it on his blog.I don 't know if it is based on an incident recorded in our Christian Old Testament. Have to research that. But I like making the potato fritters called latkes. And I 'll be on the look out for for Jewish menorah candle stand.

This is what I got from BBC (excerpts)

Hanukkah is an eight day holiday starting on the 25th night of the Jewish month of Kislev. Hanukkah (The Hebrew word means 'Dedication') is also known as the Festival of Lights. The holiday goes back almost 2,400 years. Hanukkah celebrates one of the greatest miracles in Jewish history.
The origins of Hanukkah are an event that happened over two thousand years ago. At this time, Judea was ruled by Antiochus, a Syrian king. He attempted to assimilate the Jews into Greek culture, commanding them to worship Greek gods while oppressing Jewish culture and religion. A statue of Antiochus was erected in the Jewish temple and it was ordered that the Jews should bow down before him.
The Ten Commandments forbid Jews to worship statues or idols and so they refused. A small group of Jews called Maccabees (which probably comes from the Hebrew word meaning 'the Hammerer') rebelled, risking their lives to prevent the desecration of their Temple. Although the Maccabees won, the Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed. The Jews had to clean and repair the Temple, and when they were finished they rededicated it to God by rekindling the sacred Menorah (a six-stemmed candelabrum) of the temple. Only one small jar of sanctified oil was found, and yet the lamp stayed alight miraculously for eight days.
It is because of this miracle that Hanukkah is celebrated by lighting one candle on the Hanukiah (an eight-stemmed candelabrum) each day. 'Rock of Ages' ('Moaz Tzur' in Hebrew), a hymn of praise to God, is sung after each night's lighting of the candles. The Hanukiah symbolises how God looked after the Jewish people at this difficult time.

Like Christmas, Hanukkah is a special time for children. Gifts and Hanukkah money are exchanged. Some families give a small present on each of the eight nights of Hanukkah.
Children and adults play with a spinning top called a dreidel. This cube-shaped dice has a Hebrew letter on each side.
Some dishes have special significance, such as latkes (a kind of potato fritter), pancakes and doughnuts. This is because they are fried in oil and so Jewish people remember the miracle of the oil lasting eight days in the temple.
My country has close ties with Israel. We get a lot of tourists from there, many of them interested in Eastern religions.

In the Word we are exhorted to pray for the peace of Jerusalem and salvation of the Jews.

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Just call a from Namrita, my younger sister who lives in Meghalaya (N.E.)Today is her bro-in-law 's pre-wedding dinner party.She was asked for the recipe of fried fish.They are doing 60 pounds(30kgs).Their culture, food, traditions etc is completely different from ours.They have a matriarchal society.Namrita had to make a lot of cultural adjustmentments when she married my BIL.But the Garo people love her,they appreciate the way she has adapted to their society.