Saturday, September 23, 2006

Hanukkah

Hanukkah, also known as the Festival of Lights or Festival of Dedication, is an eight day Jewish holiday that starts on the 25th day of Kislev, which may be in December, late November, or, while very rare in occasion, early January (as was the case for the Hannukkah of 2005–2006). The festival is observed in Jewish homes by the kindling of lights on each of the festival's eight nights, one on the first night, two on the second night and so on.

In Hebrew script, the word Hanukkah is written חנכה, ḥănukkāh, or חנוכה, ḥănūkkāh. It is most commonly transliterated to English as Hanukkah or Chanukah.