When you see these words what comes to mind: menorah, dreidel, and gelt? Hanukkah is known as the Feast of Lights or the eight-day Jewish celebration (Molloy, 2010). When the menorah is all-light up on the eighth day, what a beautiful sight. Hanukkah marks a great day in the Jewish history. Throughout this paper, the following will be cover in regards to Hanukkah: the time of year, historical origin, religious practice(s), and cultural differences in observance of this day.
Hanukkah occurs during the early winter (Molloy, 2010). This year in 2012 Hanukkah will begin on the evening of December 8 and end on the evening of December 16 (History.com, 2012). Each year is different depending on the year. There are times that Hanukkah can land in late November and early December.
Hanukkah dates back to 165 B.C. (Gitelman, Jan/Feb 1997), this is when the Second Temple was rededicated. The rededication of the Second Temple occurred in Jerusalem. This is what happens for Hanukkah to occur. Antiochus IV Epiphanies son of Antiochus III, the Seleucid king of Syria, wanted the Jews to discontinue their worship to one God. He wanted the Jews to worship the Greek Gods. During this time, he outlawed the Jewish religion. Many Jews were slaughter like the pigs that were sacrificed for Zeus as they overtook the Second Temple. Matthias the Jewish priest fought back until his death, his son Judah then took over and within two years was able to defeat Antiochus IV (History.com, 2012). That day marked the beginning of Hanukkah. Judah had the Second Temple cleanse and found cruse oil that lights the holy lamps for eight days (Gitelman, Jan/Feb 1997).
The religious practices that occur during Hanukkah are the lighting of the menorah, the dreidel game, foods, and exchanging gifts. The menorah use to symbolize the eight days. On the first night, a single candle is light on a nine-branch menorah. Then every evening after the first night, there is an additional candle light until the eight candles are light. When adding candles to the menorah a candle is added from right to left. During this time of the lighting of the candle a prayer is said and readings of Hebrew (Gitelman, Jan/Feb 1997). The dreidel game is played during Hanukkah. A dreidel has four sides to it and spins. On each side, there is a Hebrew letter on it. Each letter has a meaning. The dreidel tells the story of what occurred in Jerusalem. To play the game there is no limit to how many people can play. Each player must have an equal amount of game piece, 10 to 15 this can be pennies, nuts, chips, etc. Every time you spin the dreidel, you can get either game pieces or not depending on where it lands. The person who has the majority of game pieces wins.
Hanukkah foods are usually fried in oil. This symbolizes the cruse oil (History.com, 2012). These foods are usually made potato pancake and jam-filled donuts. The potato pancakes can have toppings like sour cream or applesauce.
After the candle is lit and the food has been eaten, an exchanging of gifts is done on each day of Hanukkah. The gifts are mostly exchanged by the children.
The cultural differences that may lead to having a difference in observing Hanukkah versus Christmas would be if the majority of people or communities within that culture change the mindset. If the majority of the community celebrated Hanukkah, they could petition to the government to change the holy days from Christmas to Hanukkah.
As shown, there are good reasons to celebrate Hanukkah. The history behind why the Jews celebrate Hanukkah is a great story, and having a game to teach this story is a useful way in educating young Jews. The menorah is a big asset to the celebration of Hanukkah. Hanukkah helps the Jewish people remember why they celebrate Hanukkah and what it means to be Jewish.

References
Gitelman, H. F. (Jan/Feb 1997). Sharing Hanukkah with young students. Social Studies, 88, 39. doi:00377996
History.com. (2012). Hanukkah. Retrieved from http://www.history.com/topics/hanukkah
Molloy, M. (2010). Experiencing the world’s religions: Tradition, challenge, and change (5th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.