Chanukah (also spelled Hanukkah) lasts for eight days, beginning the 25th of the Hebrew month Kislev (November-December). It celebrates the victory of Judah the Maccabee over the Syrian tyrant Antiochus over 2100 years ago. (More From The Jewish Communications Network)

After several years of fighting, during which Judah the Maccabee fought for cultural and religious freedom from the Greeks and Syrians, he won a decisive victory and returned with his followers to Jerusalem. There, he and his followers reclaimed the temple from its defilement by the Greeks. (More About The Maccabees)

They could find only one small cruse of oil, enough to last one day. But when they lit the temple menorah with it, a miracle occurred and the menorah burned for eight days. Since then, the Jewish people celebrate Chanukah to remember the Maccabees and their successful fight for independence against the Greeks, the victory of the righteous over the strong -- and the miracle of the oil.

Each night of the festival, the family gathers around the menorah, a special candelabrum that holds eight candles. On the first night the head of the family uses a helper candle -- called a shamos -- to light one candle. On the second night, two candles are lit, and so on, until all eight candles are lit on the eighth night.

Each night, gifts are given. In some families, children play games with a small four-sided wooden top called at dreidel. On each side of the top is one letter of NGHS, or Nes Godol Hoyoh Shom, which means "A great miracle happened there."

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