Are people really this clueless about Hanukah?

[LavenderBlue]

@TriPolar

Chanukah, Hanuka, Channuka, Hannukah, and everything other variation along the way.

My eldest was given a spelling test last year that included the word Hanuka. Spelled Hanuka and firmly told she would be docked points if she spelled it any other way. Amusing.

[TriPolar]

@moejoe

As long as we’re asking questions, what’s the deal with latkes? I know that they are delicious, but are they only made on the first night? All 8 nights? Are there other traditional foods associated with the holiday?

Latkes can be made any time. It’s a traditional Hanukah food, associated with the oil. But otherwise you can and should eat latkes as often as possible. One little known fact is that potato pancakes can be made with potatoes ground in a food processor, but latkes must be made of potatoes that are grated by hand. It’s not well known because my grandmother made it up.

@Magiver

Surely they make disposable inserts for them. That would have gotten on my last nerve after the first go around. I’d be lining them with aluminum foil so it just pulls out.

Some people do that. But it’s usually not a big deal. The candle will tend to go out when it hits the top of the hole and the stub can just be popped out. I can’t say what’s typical, but perhaps most people wait till the end of a holiday for a thorough cleaning and just jam the candles into the holes with some wax remnants otherwise. Not all menorahs are made to the exact size for common Hanukah candles. Sometimes you have to drip some wax in or use some foil to get them to hold in place anyway.

[jayjay]

@DMark

Hanuka or Chanuka?
Seen it spelled both ways - no wonder people get confused.

The differences are because it’s not a native Roman-alphabet word. Like Arabic, Hebrew words in Roman script are always “more or less” because both languages have sounds that don’t occur in English, so transliteration is subject to individual decisions.

[MeanOldLady]

@Magiver

I do not know what it is beyond a Jewish holiday that is near the Christmas holiday.

I am thoroughly confused on the candles since it’s a celebration of a miracle involving oil. How are the candles different than any other? they look like standard candles to me and I failed to find out how they’re different beyond a need to package them in groups of 9.

Fair enough, but not even knowing Hanukkah exists seems kind of bizarre. I’d imagine you were a Walgreens clerk and someone asked you for Hanukkah candles, you’d think, “Oh, I didn’t know they had special candles for that,” then you’d say, “Try the seasonal/holiday aisle” or something. You would not be like, “Who’s Hanukkah?”

@ZipperJJ

Could be that the clerk didn’t know that the word spelled “Chanukah” on a box was the word for that Jewish Christmas celebration. They might not know that hors d’ouvres are appetizers either. The exchange in the OP didn’t have the clerk not knowing the holiday, just not the spelling and pronunciation.

True, but I don’t think tdn wrote down his request on a 3x5 card, then handed it to the clerk. When he asked about the candles, he probably said the word Chanukah out loud.

[CrazyCatLady]

@TriPolar

Not all menorahs are made to the exact size for common Hanukah candles. Sometimes you have to drip some wax in or use some foil to get them to hold in place anyway.

You mean to tell me you have to go to the trouble of finding special candles of a special size to fit your special holder…and then they might not even fit right? If I celebrated such a holiday, this aggression would not stand.

[chizzuk]

@Alessan

As a rule, you’re never allowed to put out any candles used in Jewish ritual (except for the *havdala *candle, where putting it out is part of the ritual). Just don’t put them next to anything flammable.

That said, if you don’t feel safe, then you can put them out.

I think that’s minhag, not Halacha. Some people have a custom to never blow out candles. But if you realize your menorah candles are too short to burn for the required 30 minutes, you are supposed to put them out and relight new ones, so it can’t be totally forbidden. Except on Shabbos.

You are also supposed to put the menorah out when you go to bed or leave the house, because it’s dangerous. Every year some Orthodox rabbis in New York put out warnings about this, and every year some family has a huge fire anyway.

[Derleth]

@CrazyCatLady

If I celebrated such a holiday, this aggression would not stand.

I can also guess you wouldn’t roll on the Sabbath.

[CrazyCatLady]

@Derleth

I can also guess you wouldn’t roll on the Sabbath.

I ask you, am I wrong?

[JRDelirious]

@Senegoid

Not that this is totally a problem. Many people criticize the commercialism of it all. But aside from that, both are still fun-filled festive parties for a lot of children especially.

As long as we’re mentioning commercialization of holidays, I’ve wondered when will some marketing genius come up with a way to turn Purim into a more general-audience hey-let’s-drink-and-act-up day along the lines of what was done to St. Patrick’s and Cinco de Mayo…

[jayjay]

@JRDelirious

As long as we’re mentioning commercialization of holidays, I’ve wondered when will some marketing genius come up with a way to turn Purim into a more general-audience hey-let’s-drink-and-act-up day along the lines of what was done to St. Patrick’s and Cinco de Mayo…

Have you ever seen “For Your Consideration”?

[Magiver]

@JRDelirious

As long as we’re mentioning commercialization of holidays, I’ve wondered when will some marketing genius come up with a way to turn Purim into a more general-audience hey-let’s-drink-and-act-up day along the lines of what was done to St. Patrick’s and Cinco de Mayo…

You really think Jews are going to out-drink Catholics. them’s drinkin words.

[Cartooniverse]

Hmm…Mogen David…Tanqueray…

No contest.

[tdn]

@The_Hamster_King

Since Judaism is an ethnicity *and *a culture *and *a religion, you have no way of knowing that the OP worships a magical sky daddy. Plenty of atheist Jews observe Hanukah.

To set the record straight, I am an atheist, born into a Christian family. I light a menorah every year because I like to.

[Shayna]

@Senegoid

Well, yeah, there’s no rule anywhere that I know of about what kind of candles you should use. As Hello Again mentioned a few posts above, you might even have one that burns little pots of oil – as surely the ner tamid (eternal lamp) did when the Jews of Maccabean days rededicated the Temple.

A google image search for hanukkah candles shows a great variety of them.

The ones I always knew were larger than typical birthday candles but smaller than typical Shabbas candles, as other have described above. They came in carnival colors, and were always fluted in a spiral pattern around them, like Greek columns. Photo. ETA: That particular size seems to be simply a de facto standard for the candles and for the menorahs.

I haven’t seen the turned style candles in years. The only ones anyone carries around here these days are smooth. These are the ones we got this year, and as a matter of fact, we got them at Walgreens.

@flodnak

And here in Scandiwegia, you can buy candles known as “Christmas tree candles”, which no one but a few hard-core (and mildly insane) traditionalists put on an actual Christmas tree any more. They are still sold because some candle holders, particularly ones meant as (surprise!) Christmas decorations, require that special size, bigger than a birthday candle but smaller than a standard-issue taper candle. But from the big pagan Germanic evergreen-worshiping symbol they came, and therefore they shall forever bear the name of the big pagan Germanic evergreen-worshiping symbol.

My husband family still lights those candles on their tree every year. It’s actually the family tradition that the women and children have to leave the room and the men do the candle lighting.

@Eva_Luna

I generally think of it as a celebration of the underdog overthrowing an invading imperialist power.

Then you’ll really like the story below …

@LavenderBlue

I also think of it as the time of year when my husband attempts to make homemade donuts.

a pot of hot oil and a package of Pillsbury biscuits: Best. Donuts. Ever.

@moejoe

As long as we’re asking questions, what’s the deal with latkes? I know that they are delicious, but are they only made on the first night? All 8 nights? Are there other traditional foods associated with the holiday?

Eating dairy is another Chanukah custom:
*"The custom of eating dairy foods for Hanukkah dates back to the Middle Ages, when the Book of Judith played an important role in the Hanukkah narrative.

Judith was a celebrated Jewish heroine who saved her village from an invading Assyrian army. Judith, a beautiful widow, plied the Assyrian army’s general with wine and salty cheese (wine and cheese - that’s my kind of heroine!). When the general passed out drunk, Judith beheaded him with his own sword. The Israelites launched a surprise attack on the leaderless Assyrian army and emerged victorious. In Judith’s honor, we eat dairy foods during Hanukkah, like kugels made with cheese and sour cream."
*