December 6, 2010: The Jewish holiday Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights, honors the re-dedication of the holy temple in Jerusalem. Syrian-Greek troops had seized the site in 168 B.C.E.

After the Syrian-Greek victory, Jews were threatened with death if they did not bow down to Greek gods such as Zeus and eat pork. In great anger, Jewish rebels led by Mattathias and his family, known today as the Maccabees, rose up to regain control of their land and their temple.

Hanukkah is celebrated over eight days to commemorate the Jews’ re-sanctification of the temple, which their enemies had used to worship foreign idols. The temple’s menorah contained only enough oil to burn for one day, not the eight days needed to make the Jewish temple holy again. Yet the oil lasted for eight days, creating the miracle of Hanukkah, which means dedication.

Hanukkah usually falls in late November or December. In 2010, the holiday stretches from
December 1 - 8.

How Families Celebrate Hanukkah

SOS Children's Villages - Israel

At SOS Children’s Villages in Israel and in Jewish homes around the world, families light the Hanukkah candles together every night at sundown. They recount the story of Hanukkah, play dreidel games, and eat potato latkes. The oil used to fry the potato pancakes represents the oil that lasted for eight days in the temple.

Exchanging gifts was not originally a key element of Hanukkah, apart from parents giving gelt (gold coins) to children for reciting the Hanukkah story.

Re-sanctifying Childhood in Israel

SOS Children’s Villages has been providing loving homes and Hanukkah celebrations to Israeli children in need since 1981. SOS-Israel’s two villages are SOS-Arad, or Neradim, in the south, and SOS-Migdal Haemek, or Megadim, in the north near Nazareth.

SOS-Migdal Haemek is home for 70 children ages 5 to 18. To begin serving Israel’s minority populations in need, in 2009 SOS opened a daycare center in the northern Arab Bedouin village of Qa’abiya. The center offers tutoring, therapeutic interventions, after-school enrichment, and a warm meal to 20 local children.

The center is the first of five planned across Israel; the second center will lie in the southern region of Abu Basma. Eventually these initiatives will expand to become SOS family strengthening programs, which provide counseling in parenting skills and small business start-ups with the aim of keeping families intact.

While Hanukkah is about re-dedicating the Jews’ holy temple, SOS is about restoring the sanctity of childhood to boys and girls of all races and religions whose own parents are unable to care for them.

During the Jewish Festival of Lights, consider donating to SOS Children’s Villages, where every day SOS mothers cultivate the light in each child under her care.

If you would like to learn more about SOS Children’s Villages and issues that affect children around the world, sign up to receive our eNewsletters or make a donation today.