The first day of winter is December 21st.  Four days before one of the best holidays. A lot of people celebrate Christmas but some people don’t care to celebrate Christmas.  Everyone has their ways they celebrate Christmas.

Hanukkah is a Jewish festival commemorating the recovery or Jerusalem and subsequent rededication of the second temple at the beginning of the Maccabean revolt against the Seleucid Empire in the 2nd Century. Hanukkah is way different then Christmas.  Instead of opening all your gifts on Christmas, they start the first day of Hanukkah on December 18th and the last day of Hanukkah is December 26th. It’s not always the same days.  It changes every year, but that’s the date of Hanukkah this year. On the first night of Hanukkah they light a candle on the right side of the Menorah. On the second night, a second candle is lit on the left side.  On the third night you go back to the right side and so on placing candles right to left. People usually receive chocolate coins, but a lot of people who celebrate Hanukkah that have kids let them open a present each night one candle is lit. The kids usually play with a traditional toy called a Dreidel. A Dreidel is a pointed four-sided top made out of wood or plastic that is made to spin on it’s base.  They eat brisket and a Latkes.  A Latkes is a delicious potato pancake made from mash. Hanukkah is not the most important Jewish holiday. Religious celebrations like Passover and Rosh Hashanah are much more more important.