Happy Hanukkah 2010 celebrations begin with exchange of gifts

Jews will begin celebrating Hanukkah on Wednesday night at sundown. It is the holiday in which Jews remember the triumph of the Maccabees over the armies of Syria and the following liberation and rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem. Hanukkah celebrates religious and cultural freedom, and it’s a blissful time for families, mainly kids.

The eight days Festival of Lights marks the rededication of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabean rebellion in 165 BC, and the phenomenon of a splash of found oil lasting for 8 nights.

Today the festival is pragmatic by lights the candles on a menorah. A menorah consists of 9 branches that every hold a candle, one for the 8 days of Hanukkah and an extra candle, a shamash usually used to light the others.

Latkes or potato pancakes are shallow fried pancakes of grated potato, flour and egg, frequently flavoured with grated onion or garlic and seasoning. Potato pancakes may be topped with a diversity of condiments, ranging from the savory to the sweet, or they may be serving up un-garnished. Potato pancakes are occasionally made from mashed potatoes to create pancake-shaped croquettes.

Latkes are usually eaten by Ashkenazi Jews throughout the Jewish Hanukkah festival. The oil for cooking the latkes is significant of the oil from the Hanukkah story that kept the Second Temple of ancient Israel light with a long-lasting flame that is celebrated as a phenomenon. In spite of the fame of latkes and tradition of eating them throughout Hanukkah, they are hard to come by in stores or restaurants in Israel.

Customarily, families sing holiday songs, tell stories, eat potato latkes and play games with a dreidel, which is a usual Hanukkah game and exchange gifts.