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Today is: Thursday, Kislev 25, 5771 · December 2, 2010
Chanukah Day 1
• Kindle Two Chanukah Lights tonight
Today is the first day of the eight-day festival of
Chanukah. In commemoration of the miracle of the oil
(see " Today in Jewish History") we kindle the Chanukah lights -- oli lamps or candles --
each evening for eight days, increasing the number of lights each evening.
In the Jewish calendar, the day begins at nightfall; thus, the first Chanukah light is
kindled on the preceding evening, which is when the Hebrew date of Kislev 25 begins.
Tonight is the eve of the 2nd day of Chanukah, so we kindle two lights in the
Chanukah menorah.
The icon below displays the ideal Chanukah lighting time for your
location; the lighting can be done, however, later in the evening as
well. For more on Chanukah lighting times, click here.
(If no time is displayed, click on icon to set your location.)
For more a more detailed guide to Chanukah lighting click here. For text and audio of the blessings recited before lighting, click here.
Additional Chanukah observances and customs are listed below:
• Hallel & Al HaNissim
Special prayers of thanksgiving -- Hallel (in its full version) and Al HaNissim
-- are added to the daily prayers and Grace After Meals on all eight days of Chanukah.
Tachnun (confession of sins) and similar prayers are omitted for the duration of trhe festival.
• Latkes, Sufganiot & Dairy Foods
On Chanukah we eat foods fried in oil -- such as latkes (potato cakes) and
sufganiot (doughnuts) -- in commemoration of the miracle of the oil.
It is also customary to eat dairy foods in commemoration of
Judith's heroic deed.
• Dreidel
It is customary to play dreidel -- a game played with a spinning top inscribed with the Hebrew
letters Nun, Gimmel, Hei and Shin, which spell the phrase
Nes Gadol Hayah Sham, "a great miracle happened there." (It is
said that when the
Greeks forbade the study of Torah, Jewish children continued the study
with their teachers in caves and cellars; when the agents of the king
were seen approaching, the children would hide their scrolls
and start to play with spinning tops...)
Links: About the dreidel
• Chanukah Gelt
It is an age-old custom to distribute gifts of Chanukah gelt ("Chanukah money") to children on Chanukah.
(It was the custom of the rebbes of Chabad-Lubavitch to give Chanukah gelt
to their children and other family members on the fourth or fifth night
of Chanukah; more recently, however, the Lubavitcher Rebbe encouraged
the giving of Chanukah gelt every day of the festival -- except for Shabbat, when handling money is forbidden.)
• Cain Kills Abel (3720 BCE)
The first murder of history occurred on the 25th of Kislev
in the year 41 from creation (3720 BCE), when Adam and Eve's
eldest son, Cain, killed his younger brother, Abel, as recounted
in the 4th chapter of Genesis.
Link: From
the Midrash
• Mishkan completed (1312 BCE)
The vessels, tapestries, wall sections and other components of
the Mishkan (the portable sanctuary or "Tabernacle" built under Moses'
direction to house the Divine Presence during the Israelites'
journeys through the desert) were completed on the
25th of Kislev in the year 2449 from creation (1312 BCE).
The Mishkan was not assembled, however, until 3 months later,
when, beginning on Adar 25 of that year, it was erected
and taken down daily for a 7-day "training" period prior to
its dedication on the 1st of Nissan. Our Sages tell us that
the day of Kislev 25 was compensated 12
centuries later, when the Maccabees dedicated the Holy Temple on Kislev 25,
3622 (139 BCE -- see below).
Links: The Mishkan described
in the Torah and commentaries; from the
Chassidic masters on the Mishkan
• Chanukah Miracle (139 BCE)
On the 25th of Kislev in the year 3622
from creation, the Maccabees liberated the Holy Temple in Jerusalem,
after defeating the vastly more numerous and powerful
armies of the Syrian-Greek king Antiochus IV, who had tried to
forcefully uproot the beliefs and practices of
Judaism from the people of Israel. The victorious Jews repaired,
cleansed and rededicated the Temple to the service of G-d. But all the
Temple's oil had been defiled by the pagan invaders; when the Jews
sought to light the Temple's menorah (candelabra), they found only one
small cruse of ritually pure olive
oil. Miraculously, the one-day supply burned for eight days, until new,
pure oil could be obtained.
In commemoration, the Sages instituted the 8-day festival of Chanukah,
on which lights are kindled
nightly to recall and publicize the miracle.
Link: The Story of Chanukah
• R. Chizkiah Medini (1904)
Kislev 25 is the yahrtzeit (date of passing) of Rabbi Chaim
Chizkiah Medini (1832-1904), author of the Halachic encyclopedia
Sdei Chemed.
The glory of G-d will be revealed. And all flesh will see that the mouth of G-d has spoken
- Isaiah 40:5
Chitas and Rambam for today:
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Audio: 
