Hanukkah

Also known as Chanukah or the Festival of Lights, the festival of Hanukkah is a major Jewish festival.

Nowadays, Hanukkah features the tradition of lighting a special Hanukkah menorah with nine branches, lighting a new candle each night of Hanukkah. The menorah has a ninth candle (the ‘shamash’) which is used to light the other candles.

Commemorating the miracle of the burning lamp, it is traditional to eat foods fried in oil, such as potato latke pancakes or doughnuts. Other customs include spinning a top with Hebrew letters on the sides known as the dreidel (pictured above), and giving money to children. Chocolate coins or gelt (Yiddish for money) wrapped in gold and silver are exchanged at Hanukkah.