It all began in 165 B.C.E. The Syrian Greeks occupied the temple in Jerusalem and prevented the Jews from performing their rituals and observing their religious beliefs. Against impossible odds, a little group of Jews, led by Judah, rose up against their oppressors and threw the Greeks out of the temple. After they cleared the temple of Greek icons and idols, the Jews discovered they had only oil to light the lamp in the temple for one day. But lo and behold, God worked a miracle and the oil lasted for 8 days, long for the Jews to discover a more plentiful source. Today, Hanukkah is an 8-day festival celebrated by Jews around the globe with menorahs (eight-branched candelabra); spinning derides (tops), geld (gold-wrapped chocolates formed like coins) and appetizing fried foods. This year Hanukkah begins at sundown on December 3 and continues through December 11.

Jews from different cultures eat different fried foods to commemorate the miracle of the oil. Plenty of American Jews, from Russian and Eastern European descent, eat latkes, shredded potato pancakes, with sour cream and/or applesauce. The Sephardic Jews from France, Portugal, Spain, North Africa, Iraq, Syria, Greece and Turkey enjoy jelly-filled doughnuts, or sufganiyot.

Cheese blintzes, crepes filled with ricotta or pot cheese, are another food enjoyed in the coursework of Hanukkah. This custom springs out of another legend, the story of Judith, a Jewish widow who saved the Jewish town of Byhalia in the coursework of the revolt against the Syrian-Greeks. He entered the enemy camp and prepared a feast for the general that was filled with salty cheeses. The general developed a powerful thirst from the cheese and drank a lot wine that they passed out. Judith then cut off his head along with his own sword and the general as troops retreated.

The most important ritual of Hanukkah is the kindling of the menorah lights each night one candle the first night, four the second, and so forth, always lighting from right to left. Plenty of families retell the story of Hanukkah, reminding their kids to be proud of their Jewish heritage and to treasure religious freedom.

In the coursework of the 8-day celebration, kids get presents and bags of chocolate coins called gilt. They also play a gambling-type game with the deride, a 4-sided top with the Hebrew letters nun, gamely, he and shin. The letters stand for the words which mean a great miracle happened here. A The deride game is said to have developed as a way to get around a decree the Syrian-Greeks passed against learning the Torah, the Jewish holy book. Jews who met together to study would bring the tops, so passing patrols would be lulled in to thinking they were playing a harmless game.