Hanukkah 2021: What is it and when is it celebrated

This Sunday begins the celebration of Hanukkah or Hanukkah in Spanish, one of the most important celebrations of Judaism . It begins on the eve of the 25th day of the Hebrew month of Kislev and is eight days long. This holiday varies from year to year on the Western calendar, but it is usually celebrated between the end of November and the end of December.

During Hanukkah, – it is also known as the Festival of Lights or Luminaries -, the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem and the rebellion of the Maccabees against the Seleucid Empire are remembered. Jewish tradition speaks of the miracle in which the temple lamp could be lit for eight consecutive days with a very small amount of oil that only had to be enough for one day. That is why during the festival, the nine arms of a chandelier called a chanuquiá are progressively lit to symbolize the victory of light over darkness.

This year, Hanukkah will be celebrated from the afternoon of Sunday, November 28 to the afternoon of Monday, December 6.

Hanukkah is not the Jewish version of Christmas

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It is important to be very clear that Hanukkah is a holiday with a different meaning than Christian Christmas with its own celebrations and identity. The word hanukkah means ” dedication .”

The children receive small gifts every night, they play with a kind of whirligig called dreidel and eat traditional dishes with the family such as latkes , fried potato and onion “pancakes”, fritters and donuts called sufganiyot .

It is very important to know the different celebrations that are observed at the end of the year and show them due respect, not only because in Mexico there is a Jewish community of 58.876 people (according to the INEGI census), but because it is the right thing to do.