# 4433 - 2009 44c Hanukkah
Hanukkah
Issue Date: October 9, 2009
City: New York, NY
Hanukkah is a Jewish festival that celebrates the rededication of the Temple of Jerusalem and a miracle that occurred there. In 165 B.C., Judah Maccabee led a revolt against Palestine’s ruler, Syrian King Antiochus IV, who forbade the practice of Judaism. The king also defiled the Temple of Jerusalem by using it to worship the pagan god Zeus. Maccabee defeated Antiochus and took control of Jerusalem.
To rededicate the Temple, oil was needed for a burning light to symbolize the strength of God. Legend states that only enough oil to last one day could be found, but miraculously, the oil burned for eight days. Since that time, Hanukkah is celebrated each year for eight days, beginning on the 25th day of the month of Kislev in the Gregorian calendar (usually December). During the festive celebration, families gather together to light eight candles in a menorah (candelabrum shown on cachet) just after sunset. A ninth candle (shammes) on the menorah is used to light the candles, one more each day until all are lit.
Other traditions include singing and eating fried foods in memory of the miracle of the oil. Children often receive gifts or money and chocolate coins (gelt) that may be used to bet on the game of dreidel.
Dedication Of Touro Synagogue
In the 1620s, Jewish settlers of Spanish and Portuguese origin fled their homes in Amsterdam and London in search of religious freedom. Over the years they traveled from Brazil to the Caribbean, particularly Barbados. Then in the spring of 1658, fifteen Spanish/Portuguese Jewish families arrived in Newport, Rhode Island. They believed they would be able to practice their faith under the law of Governor Roger Williams. Williams established the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations on the basis of freedom of religion and conscience. This congregation was known Nephuse Israel (Scattered of Israel).
During the American Revolution, many of the town’s Jewish residents fled the city when the British occupied it. Isaac Touro remained to keep watch over the synagogue. The British used it as a hospital and assembly hall. Although they needed wood for burning during the winter, the synagogue’s importance as a hospital spared it from being destroyed. After the British left, the Jewish families began to return.
Two years later, Judah Touro, son of the synagogue’s namesake, left a bequest for its restoration. By the 1880s, new Jewish families arrived from Europe and reopened the synagogue.
In 1946, the Touro Synagogue was made a National Historic Site. Today, it’s the oldest standing synagogue in the U.S.
Click here for a short video about Touro Synagogue.
Hanukkah
Issue Date: October 9, 2009
City: New York, NY
Hanukkah is a Jewish festival that celebrates the rededication of the Temple of Jerusalem and a miracle that occurred there. In 165 B.C., Judah Maccabee led a revolt against Palestine’s ruler, Syrian King Antiochus IV, who forbade the practice of Judaism. The king also defiled the Temple of Jerusalem by using it to worship the pagan god Zeus. Maccabee defeated Antiochus and took control of Jerusalem.
To rededicate the Temple, oil was needed for a burning light to symbolize the strength of God. Legend states that only enough oil to last one day could be found, but miraculously, the oil burned for eight days. Since that time, Hanukkah is celebrated each year for eight days, beginning on the 25th day of the month of Kislev in the Gregorian calendar (usually December). During the festive celebration, families gather together to light eight candles in a menorah (candelabrum shown on cachet) just after sunset. A ninth candle (shammes) on the menorah is used to light the candles, one more each day until all are lit.
Other traditions include singing and eating fried foods in memory of the miracle of the oil. Children often receive gifts or money and chocolate coins (gelt) that may be used to bet on the game of dreidel.
Dedication Of Touro Synagogue
In the 1620s, Jewish settlers of Spanish and Portuguese origin fled their homes in Amsterdam and London in search of religious freedom. Over the years they traveled from Brazil to the Caribbean, particularly Barbados. Then in the spring of 1658, fifteen Spanish/Portuguese Jewish families arrived in Newport, Rhode Island. They believed they would be able to practice their faith under the law of Governor Roger Williams. Williams established the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations on the basis of freedom of religion and conscience. This congregation was known Nephuse Israel (Scattered of Israel).
During the American Revolution, many of the town’s Jewish residents fled the city when the British occupied it. Isaac Touro remained to keep watch over the synagogue. The British used it as a hospital and assembly hall. Although they needed wood for burning during the winter, the synagogue’s importance as a hospital spared it from being destroyed. After the British left, the Jewish families began to return.
Two years later, Judah Touro, son of the synagogue’s namesake, left a bequest for its restoration. By the 1880s, new Jewish families arrived from Europe and reopened the synagogue.
In 1946, the Touro Synagogue was made a National Historic Site. Today, it’s the oldest standing synagogue in the U.S.
Click here for a short video about Touro Synagogue.