chanukah

• Question:-What is the difference between Hanukkah and Chanukah?
  Everytime I look up Hanukkah I also see Chanukah, are they the same thing or is there a difference between the two?
  
  Answer:-Same day...different spellings. That's all.
  "Hanukkah, also known as the Festival of Lights or Festival of Rededication, is an eight day Jewish holiday that starts on the 25th day of Kislev, which may be in December, late November, or, while very rare in occasion, early January (as was the case for the Hannukkah of 2005–2006). The festival is observed in Jewish homes by the kindling of lights on each of the festival's eight nights, one on the first night, two on the second night and so on.
  
  In Hebrew script, the word Hanukkah is written חנכה or חנוכה. It is most commonly transliterated to English as Hanukkah or Chanukah. " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chanukah
• Question:-For all the Jewish Chanukah kids, What did your Mom cook for Chanukah dinner when you were young?
  I'm Bar Mitzvahd and grew up reformed Jewish in NY and had stuffed cabbage in tomatoes for Chanukah's first night. Latkes, Sweets, Marzupan, Matzo, etc...What did your Mom feed you on Chanukah?
  
  Answer:-chicken , latkes, sweet potato pie, matza ball soup
• Question:-Would any Jew on here be willing to help me figure out how to properly celebrate Chanukah?
  My brother and I want to start a tradition of celebrating Chanukah, but we don't know where to start and would like a real Jew's help in making sure we get it right.
  
  Answer:-http://www.jewfaq.org/holiday7.htm
  
  it says everything you need to know. Chanukah is not a very complicated holiday. you only have to do one thing: lighting the candles the rest is just optional.
• Question:-How do people in France celebrate Chanukah?
  is it the same way Americans celebrate Chanukah?
  
  Answer:-It is celebrated world wide the same way. How kwel is that?
• Question:-What is the difference between Chanukah and Hanukkah?
  Are they just two different spellings for the same thing? What is the reason for the two spellings? thanks!
  
  Answer:-Two different spellings, that's all. They are the same thing: an eight night long holiday that honors the rededication of the Temple. The reason for the two different spellings:
  
  It is originally Chanukah, or Chanukkah. Hanukah or Hanukkah is the Americanized version. In Hebrew, "ch" makes a kind of and "h"- ish sound, like saying the h sound and trying to scrape a piece of popcorn along your thorught at the same time.
  
  Hope this cleared up some of the confusion that Americans have about the Chanukah/Hanukah thing!
• Question:-Can someone tell me what Chanukah is?
  I need to know what Chanukah is for a report im doing in school. Can anyone help?
  Please only logical, educated answers.
  
  Answer:-The festival of lights. To celebrate and remember the Maccabean revolt against Antiochus Epiphanes of Greece. Pax Christi
• Question:-Is Chanukah as big a holiday for the Jews as Christmas is for the Christians? ?
  What is the biggest Jewish holiday? And also, why are Chanukah and Christmas celebrated around the same time every year?
  
  Answer:-No, Channukah is actually a minor holiday for us, though still important. Our major holidays, what we call the High Holy Days, are Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year), Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), and Passover/Pesach (the holiday remembering our exodus from Egypt).
  
  Channukah occurs on the 25th of Kislev (a month on the Jewish calendar). The Jewish calendar is lunar based, so there are 12-13 months due to the 12.4 month solar cycle...when putting Channukah on the Christian calendar the date changes each year since there are only 12 months on that calendar. But Kislev is always around December, so Channukah can fall on the end of November through around Christmas. Hope that wasn't too confusing lol...it's hard to explain :) Here is a wikipedia article explaining it more thoroughly: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_calendar
  
  Hope that helps :)
• Question:-A Messianic Jewish family puts a Menorah in their window at Chanukah - is this wrong?
  I live in an area with a mix of religions, races and creeds. I read here that Messianic Jews shouldn't use Jewish things. Is it wrong for these Messianic Jews to put a menorah in their window? They light Shabbat candles too.
  
  Is this wrong for them to do?
  To answer that asked if I asked "Why can't people get along", I did NOT ask that question.
  
  Answer:-No. From a Christian viewpoint, Jews practicing Jewish Customs and following the Jewish Messiah is what God desires. Messianic Jews continue traditional practices and celebrate Christ in the Passover next week. Please bear with some background:
  Israel as a nation rejects Yeshua (Jesus) as the Messiah prophesied by Moses, Prophets and the Writings. But there are many individual Jews who believe the Prophet Isaiah who said that the Messiah must suffer and die and would return as a glorious King - (Isaiah 53) (King David in Psalms 22:1 suffering Messiah) Zechariah 11:1 Two Shepherds....there are hundreds. This was actually taught by the Midrash Cohen in the Talmudic Period but later dropped as Christianity threatened Judaism. All the first century followers of Jesus were Jewish and continued in the Jewish customs and laws.
• Question:-When exactly does chanukah start this year?
  Please excuse my ignorance, but i"m not Jewish. I just don't want to wish my the Jewish people I know a Happy Chanukah too early or to late.
  
  Answer:-Hanukkah begins on December 16th, this coming Saturday, with the first candle being lighted Friday evening evening at sundown; the Jewish day goes from sunset to sunset, rather than from midnight to midnight.
  
  Happy Holidays, whatever yours may be!
• Question:-Is there a scriptual reason Jewish give gifts on Chanukah.?
  The background of CHRISTMAS gifts came from the Bible story of the three wise men or Magi, bringing Gold, Frankencense and Myrrh to the new born Christ.
  
  Where did the tradition of giving gifts on CHANUKAH come from?
  
  Answer:-The custom of giving Christmas gifts does not come from the Bible story of the wise men. That's absurd. Gift-giving at the Winter Solstice and New Year feasts was customary in both Republican and Imperial Rome and long pre-dated any Christmas celebrations. No doubt, since the Wise Men story is there, and a good story, it offers religious encouragement and justification for gift-giving ... but we give gifts to one another because we gain pleasure from doing it, and because it adds to the seasonal merriment ... and that is sufficient reason.