CHANUKAH - 1st NightA lot of people wonder why we celebrate Chanukah (Hanukkah, Chanukka, etc...however you want to "spell" the Hebrew letters). It is NOT the Jewish Christmas...in fact, has nothing to do with Christmas at all. But it couldn't be more biblical.Chanukah (the festival of lights, or feast of dedication) is a time of celebration for the re-conquering of the temple after it had been desecrated.A very devout family called the Maccabees, stood their ground when it came to protecting their faith in the One True and Living G-d. So, the four letters on the dreidel (the ones in Israel proper differ by one letter) stand for the Hebrew sentence: "Nes Gadol Hayah Sham" = "A great miracle happened there." Many Jewish people refer to the "great miracle" a concept that the oil for one day of burning the menorah in the temple actually miraculously lasted for 8 (hence the eight nights of lighting candles).But we see the great miracle in two parts:
1: The temple was regained for G-d's people which is where Yeshua (Jesus) would later do much of his teaching - and so, the temple was re"dedicated".2: Yeshua himself used this time of "dedication" to publicly announce and confirm He, the Light of the world, was/is indeed the Messiah. (John 10:22-42) And so - many "dedicated" themselves to Him.Different families celebrate in different ways. We personally celebrate by lighting the candles (one for each night accompanied by the "shamash" or the "servant" candle - representative of Yeshua (Jesus).Then we have a short devotional to begin a period of rededicating ourselves to His purposes.Then we play dreidel, remembering that a truly "great miracle happened there."Then, in true Jewish fashion, we eat the fun stuff: chocolate, donuts and/or potato latkes! Maybe not all together or every night, but enough to do damage on the scale. :O) We also give gifts, 1 on each night. So, eight nights of gifts is a pretty sweet deal! :o)

And, for those keeping track, the dreidel score as of the first night stands:

Al = 1

Rachel = 0

GG = 0

Hava = always a winner!