Hanukkah, the “Festival of Lights,” starts on the 25th day of the Jewish calendar month of Kislev and lasts for eight days and nights. In 2008, Hanukkah begins at sundown on December 21. With blessings, games, and festive foods, Hanukkah celebrates the triumphs–both religious and military–of ancient Jewish heroes.
Hanukkah is a relatively minor holiday in the Jewish year. Amid the ever-growing flood of Christmas advertising, it may seem especially fitting that the Hanukkah story tells of Jewish culture surviving in a non-Jewish world.