Eight Winter Nights (2 page)

The snow is white.
The stars are bright.
The family is sleeping tight,
Wrapped in dreams
Of candlelight.

About two thousand years ago, the Jewish people were ruled by a cruel foreign king named Antiochus. He would not let them practice their religion and forced them to bow down to statues placed inside their holy temple. Out of fear, many people obeyed. But a small band of fighters led by Judah Maccabee would not give in. They battled Antiochus’s army for three years and finally won. When they reclaimed the temple, they found that the eternal lamp, meant to be kept burning at all times, had gone out. According to tradition, there was only enough special oil to relight the lamp for one day. But the oil burned for eight days and nights, the time needed to prepare more oil.

Hanukkah celebrates the triumph of freedom and the miracle of the lights. Families light candles in a holder called a menorah, adding a candle for each of the eight nights. Foods fried in oil, such as potato latkes and jelly donuts, are eaten during Hanukkah.

The menorah is a holder for the eight candles of Hanukkah plus the shammes candle, which sits apart from the other candles and is used to light them. Each night of Hanukkah, another candle is lit, until on the last night there are nine candles burning.

A dreidel is a spinning top with a Hebrew letter on each of four sides. The letters—
shin, hey, gimel,
and
nun
—are the first four letters of the Hebrew words “A Great Miracle Happened Here.” By spinning the dreidel, players win candy or pennies in a game of chance.

Gelt are coins, real or chocolate, given to children during Hanukkah.

The hora is an Israeli circle dance based on a folk dance from Romania.

Latkes are crispy potato pancakes that are traditional Hanukkah treats. Foods fried in oil are often eaten during Hanukkah because oil is such an important part of the holiday’s history. Latkes are usually eaten with applesauce or sour cream.

Tzedakah is the practice of giving aid, assistance, and/or money to the poor and needy or to other worthy causes. The Hebrew word tzedakah actually means righteousness, justice, or fairness. Traditional Jewish homes may keep a tzedakah box for collecting coins. During Hanukkah, since children usually receive gifts, some families perform tzedakah to teach that giving is as important as receiving.

In Jewish lore, each Hebrew letter is assigned a number. The word
chai
meaning “life” or “good luck,” has a value of 18; any multiple of 18 is commonly considered a lucky number.

Text © 2010 by Laura Krauss Melmed.
Illustrations © 2010 by Elisabeth Schlossberg.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form
without written permission from the publisher.

eISBN 978-1-4521-1036-3

Chronicle Books LLC
680 Second Street, San Francisco, California 94107

www.chroniclekids.com

Laura Krauss Melmed
is the beloved author of more than a dozen books, including such perennial favorites as
The Rainbabies
,
I Love You As Much
, and another Hanukkah favorite,
Moishe's Miracle
. She lives with her husband in Washington, D.C.

Elizabeth Schlossberg
is the illustrator of several books, including
On the Way to Kindergarten
, which she "populated [with] and array of adorrable young animals" (
Kirkus Reviews
). She lives in Paris, France with her three children.