Saturday evening will be a very special occasion for many. For some it will be attending midnight church services. For members of the Jewish religion, sunset will commence the eight days and nights of Hanukkah (aka Festival of Lights). With the use of a menorah, a candle is lit after dark each night by the shamash and placed in a doorway or window. On each following night an additional candle is lit until the eighth night when the entire candelabra is aglow.
The tradition goes back to more than 2,000 years ago, when the Maccabees succeeded in rebelling against Antiochus IV Epiphanes. The Temple of Jerusalem was purified and, despite there only being enough oil for menorah’s candles being lit for one day, they burned for eight days.
In addition to the lighting of the candles, there is the reciting of Hallel prayer, eating foods fried in oil like latkes and sufganiyot, playing the dreidel game and Hanukkah gelt.
Hanukkah ends at nightfall on Sunday, January 1, on the first day of 2017.