Hanukkah Traditions

Happy Hanukkah! The Jewish holiday starts at sundown Dec. 20 and is celebrated for eight days and nights. 

How to light the menorah

Each night a candle is lit on the menorah. The middle candle (called a shamash) is lit first. The shamash does not count as one of the Hanukkah candles, but is used to light all the other candles. 

On the first night, just one other candle besides the shamash is put on the menorah. It's placed on the far right. Each night another candle is added to the left. 

Candles are not blown out. They burn out. 

How to play dreidel

A dreidel is a four-sided spinning top with a Hebrew letter on each side. The game can be played with gelt (chocolate coins covered in gold-colored tin foil) or with candy or pennies.

The Hebrew letters: נ (Nun), ג (Gimmel), ה (Hay) and ש (Shin) stand for the Hebrew phrase "Nes Gadol Haya Sham" which means, "A great miracle happened there [in Israel]."

Everyone playing puts a coin or a piece of candy into the pot. One person spins the dreidel and depending on the letter it lands on, he or she do the following:

Nun - the spinner gets nothing

Gimmel - the spinner wins the whole pot

Hey- the spinner gets half the pot 

Shin- the spinner must add a piece to the pot

After one spin, the dreidel is passed to the next person to spin. If a player runs out of game pieces, he or she loses.

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