Showing posts tagged holidays
Happy Hanukkah!
By // December 21st, 2011Hanukkah is the Jewish festival of lights honoring the perseverance of Judaism during ancient times, and the story of how the Menorah lamp miraculously remained lit for eight days.
But how do spell Hanukkah? Should the holiday be spelled Chanukah, Hanukkah, or Hannukah?
We have so many spellings of the Jewish holiday because it is not easily translated or transliterated into English from Hebrew. Hanukkah and Chanukah are the most widely used and accepted.
However you’d like to spell it, we’ve seen lots of questions about this festival of light. Here are a few most popular questions and answers:
How many candles are on a Menorah?
The eight candles on the menorah represent the miracle of the oil, in which one days worth of oil lasted for eight. A ninth candle is placed in the center of the menorah, and is known as the shamash and is used to light the other candles.
The dreidel is a four-sided spinning top that is part of a traditional game played during Hanukkah.
The dreidel is usually made from wood, plastic or clay, and has the four Hebrew letters Nun, Gimmel, Hey, and Shin inscribed on each side.
What do the letters on the dreidel mean?
The four symbols on a dreidel are the Hebrew letters Nun, Gimel, Hey and Shin, which stand for Nes Gadol Haya Sham, which means ‘A great miracle happened there’.
This refers to the miracle of the oil that Hanukkah celebrates.
Happy Rosh Hashanah!
By // September 29th, 2011Last night at sundown was the official beginning of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. Rosh Hashanah is observed on the first two days of Tishrei (the seventh month of the Hebrew calendar), and is celebrated in countries all around the world. Traditions for the Jewish New Year include attending synagogue and hearing the shofar, baking challah bread, and eating apples dipped in honey (in order to ensure a ‘sweet new year’). Here’s wishing a wonderful new year to all those celebrating today!
Emily Kidder - Knowledge Engineer/Answer Geek
Pledging Allegiance to the Flag
By // June 14th, 2011Today is Flag Day, which celebrates the adoption of the Stars and Stripes as the official flag of the United States. According to patriotic legend, Betsy Ross sewed the first American flag in 1776, but who actually designed the American flag? Although the flag is commonly attributed to Betsy Ross, Congressman Francis Hopkinson, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, is most likely to have designed the original flag. The American flag has since went through 28 designs. The current flag design has been in use since July 4, 1960, after Hawaii was made the 50th state.
Holly Boston, Homepage Guru
