The Mitzvot and Minhagim of Chanukah

What you’ll learn in this video

The Menorah: Mechanics & Meaning

• The Ritual: The central mitzvah involves lighting candles progressively, starting with one and adding another each night. The specific procedure requires lighting them from left to right.
• The Symbolism: This ritual commemorates the small cruse of oil that miraculously burned for eight days.
• Publicizing the Miracle: The menorah is specifically placed by a window. The goal is not just household celebration, but to remind the outside world of the miracle.
• Sanctity of the Light: We are forbidden from using the menorah’s light for practical tasks (like reading). An extra candle, the Shamash, is set apart to provide usable light so the mitzvah lights remain holy.

Liturgy: Remembering History

• Songs:
  • Hanerot Halalu: Sung immediately after lighting to emphasize that these lights are sacred and reserved for memory, not function.
  • Ma’oz Tzur: A hymn that traces Jewish history, highlighting various moments of danger and subsequent deliverance.
• Prayer (Tefillah):
  • Al Hanissim & Full Hallel: These additions focus on the spiritual victory. They celebrate the triumph over the Greeks’ attempt to oppress Jewish practice, distinguishing this victory from the physical miracle of the oil.

Minhagim: Traditions of Defiance & Celebration

• The Dreidel:
  • Meaning: The letters on the dreidel are an acronym for Nes Gadol Haya Sham (נס גדול היה שם) — “A great miracle happened there.”
    • Nun (נ)
    • Gimel (ג)
    • Hey (ה)
    • Shin (ש)
  • Origin: The game is rooted in resistance; it began as a decoy used by Jews to hide their forbidden Torah learning when Greek soldiers would inspect their homes.
• Fried Foods:
  • The Connection: We eat latkes (potato pancakes) and sufganiyot (donuts) specifically because they are fried in oil, recalling the miracle of the olive oil.
  • Festivity: The narrator notes these foods are chosen because they feel more celebratory than simply eating olives.