Published: 27 December 2019
Last updated: 4 March 2024
THE EIGHT-DAY JEWISH festival of Chanukah began on Sunday. From Melbourne and New York to Berlin and Moscow, thousands of people will gather to light giant menorahs. In many places, these public ceremonies will be accompanied by music, street food and carnivals.
These events may primarily target Jewish communities but, given their prominent locations, many non-Jews will also participate.
In the US especially, Hanukkah has become a widely recognised holiday. As well as lighting the National Menorah in Washington DC, the president hosts an annual Chanukah party in the White House. In big cities like New York, parents of Jewish children are often invited into elementary school classrooms to explain Chanukah to students.
Chanukah has even entered American popular culture. The classic children’s Chanukah song “Dreidel, dreidel, dreidel” has appeared in several episodes of South Park.
And comic Adam Sandler’s The Hanukkah Song became a national obsession when it was first performed on Saturday Night Live in 1994. Sandler even found two words to (sort of) rhyme with Chanukah in the refrain: “Put on your yarmulke, here comes Chanukah! So much fun-akah, to celebrate Chanukah!”
Rebecca Forgasz is Associate Professor in the Australian Centre for Jewish Civilisation, Monash University
FULL STORY The story of Chanukah: how a minor Jewish holiday was remade in the image of Christmas (The Conversation)
Photo: Menorahs have now become ubiquitous features around the world during Chanukah, from Berlin to New York to Melbourne (Hayoung Jeon/EPA)
