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Eight Days of Chanukah
There's a dearth of Chanukah songs compared to the sheer volume of Christmas music, although much more exists, both sacred and secular than "Maoz Tzur" (Rock of Ages, traditionally sung after candle lighting during all eight days and describes the miracles saving Jews from Egyptian slavery, the Babylonian exile, Persian genocide attempts and Greek oppression), "Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel" and Adam Sandler (Here's a link to what I hope will become a classic for Hassidic Reggae star Matisyahu http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gv-7WdpB72o). Ironically, Jews such as Irving Berlin ("White Christmas"), wrote some of the best known Christmas songs.
One of the most ubiquitous holiday songs is the "12 Days of Christmas" AKA "A Partridge in a Pear Tree". The song as been spoofed countless times, including some attempts at producing "Eight Days of Chanukah" (Chanukah is an eight day festival) songs sung to the 12 Days tune. Here's my version.
As much or more so than a one day supply of oil lasting eight days, Chanukah commemorates the Jewish revolt against Hellenistic Syrian rule led by Yehuda Maccabee (Judah Maccabeee or "Judah the Hammer"). Maccabee also rhymes with "sent to me" and "Pear Tree".
It is customary to eat fried foods on Chanukah because of oil's role in the holiday story. Potato pancakes (Latkes) and jelly donuts are the most commonly served fried foods on the festival.
On "Saturday Night Live", Jon Lovitz's "Hanukkah Harry" distributed "practical" gifts, such as slacks and socks to Jewish children, while non-Jewish kids received "cool" presents from Santa. http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/hanukkah-harry/2462/ Please note that all of the available Hanukkah Harry clips omit the slacks and socks dialogue.
Contrary to popular belief, the tradition of giving Chanukah Gelt (Money) did not originate as the subdued and practical (See Hanukkah Harry) Chanukah version of Christmas presents, at least not for the purpose of pacifying children feeling left out in December. The tradition developed in 18th century Poland as a means of tipping religious educators. The Yeshiva students also wanted a part of the tip action, so the custom of distributing coins on the holiday spread to wealthy locals handing out money to the young scholars as well. Chocolate Gelt or coins began replacing actual money in the United States and Britain in the 1920s.
See Second Day. On a personal note, I'm allergic to potatoes, so I technically can't enjoy this traditional holiday food. I used to be Marketing Director for a Chain of Allergy Centers and one of the fringe benefits was free allergy testing. According to my test results, I am allergic to potatoes and apples, which makes Chanukah latkes a double no-no since apple sauce is a traditional latke accompaniment. However, I don't miss potato pancakes because my wife has found a suitable substitute, zucchini. The Zucchini latkes are actually lighter and creamier (Without the benefit of any dairy or fake dairy products) than the potato version.
See Third Day.
A dreidel is a four sided spinning top associated with Chanukah. Dreidels have four Hebrew letters signifying "A Great Miracle Happened There". Yeshiva University students recently broke the dreidel spinning world record. http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/local/new_york&id=7818187
One candle is lit on the first night, two on the second night etc, until eight are ignited on the final eighth night. In addition to the nightly candles, one extra candle, the Shamas is lit each night, which means there are actually nine candles glowing on the final day. The Shamas, which is used to light the other candles, exists as an additional light source because it is forbidden to use the official candles for illumination.
