Happy Hanukkah (or Chanukah, Hannukah)

No matter how you spell it, it’s the Festival of Lights, celebrated by Jews around the world, this year beginning December 6 through 14. The most famous art forms for Hanukkah (currently favored spelling) are creative depictions of the nine-branched candelabrum: Nine candlesticks, one for each night of the festival and an extra candle to light the other eight.

Hanukkah commemorates the victory of a Jewish rebel army over the Syrians in the 165 BC. The date of the celebration is computed on a lunisolar calendar and thus falls on different dates every year. It always begins the 25th of Kislev, a month that generally falls in November or December of the traditional Gregorian calendar.

There are prayers, blessings and rejoicings. It’s a great time of the Jewish year. It’s a great time of the year in general. Mazel tov!