Hanoukka, or the Festival of Lights, is the festival by which the Jewish community commemorates the purification and rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem following the Maccabean revolt (168-161 BCE).
When the Maccabees (so named after the nickname of Judas Maccabeus, «the Hammer») liberated Jerusalem from Hellenistic oppression in the autumn of 164 BC, they found the Temple desecrated and the Menorah extinguished and deprived of pure oil for more than a day. Despite this, according to Talmudic tradition, the Menorah remained lit for 8 days, the time it took to obtain new oil, and since then, the rededication of the Temple and the miracle of the oil have been celebrated.
This year, Hanukkah is celebrated between 28 November and 5 December. The celebration at our headquarters is scheduled for the evening of 30 November, from 5:45 PM, and includes the ritual lighting of the 3rd candle at sunset, around 6:05 PM. This will be followed by the recitation of the corresponding blessings (berachot) and the reading, by journalist Salomón Hachuel, of an explanatory text prepared by Varda Fiszbein, and a Hanukkah story read by Emma Pérez Blindman.
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