8 Fascinating Facts About Hanukkah & Kwanzaa

Hanukkah is an eight-day celebration that is held around the world to celebrate the victory of the Maccabees or Israelites over the Greek-Syrian ruler, Antiochus around 2,200 years ago. This year, Hanukkah will start the evening of Saturday, December 24 and will end the evening of Sunday, January 1. Kwanzaa is another holiday that is celebrated this time of the year. Beginning December 26 and lasting for seven days, Kwanzaa is a celebration of community, family and culture, established as a means to help African Americans reconnect with their African roots and heritage. In this week's blog, A B Pest Control & Insulation has interesting facts you may not know about these two holidays so you can learn more about these holidays.

Hanukkah

1. 44 Candles

Throughout Hanukkah, there are at least 44 candles that are used, enough for adding a candle each night, plus the "shamash" - the helper candle. In ancient times, oil was used in the menorah. Over time, candles were substituted for the oil. Today, candles come in a variety of colors, wax types and scents. 

2. Lots of Sweets

During Hanukkah, families eat latkes (potato pancakes), sufganiyot (jelly donuts) and other foods which are fried in oil, to celebrate and commemorate the miracle of the Festival of Lights. Israelis devour around 24 million jelly donuts during the eight-day holiday, which adds up to 10.8 billion calories. 

3. Hanukkah, Chanukah or Hannuka? 

Hanukkah is also known as the Festival of Lights or the Feast of Dedication. In addition to these other names, the holiday also has a variety of English spellings. This is because the guttural Hebrew sound of the first letter cannot be rendered properly in English. 

4. Dreidel, dreidel, dreidel

During the times that the Greeks forbade Jews to learn Torah, kids would meet up in secret to learn. If a Greek soldier happened upon their meeting, they would grab their dreidels and pretend to be playing a gambling game. Dreidel is derived from the Yiddish word 'drei', which means to turn or spin. The dreidel features four Hebrew letters, Nun, Gimel, Hay and Peh. The letters stand for the Hebrew phrase "A great miracle happened there."

Kwanzaa

1. Happy Birthday Kwanzaa

This year, Kwanzaa will celebrate its 50th year. The holiday was created by Dr. Maulana Karenga, professor of Africana studies, activist and poet, in 1966 to celebrate family, culture and heritage. This holiday is modeled after the first harvest celebrations in Africa. 

2. The Number Seven

The number seven is important in the Kwanzaa celebration. There are seven days to represent the seven principles: unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity and faith. Along with the seven principles, there are seven primary symbols that represent values and concepts reflective of African culture and contributive to community building and reinforcement. 

3. Umoja is Unity

With over 2,000 languages spoken on the African continent, Kwanzaa adopted one of the many unifying languages, Swahili, which is spoken by millions on the African continent. The name Kwanzaa comes from a Swahili phrase meaning "first fruits."

4. Red, Black & Green

The colors of Kwanzaa are a reflection of the Pan-African movement representing "unity" for people of African descent worldwide: Black for the people, red for the noble blood that unites all people of African ancestry and green for the rich land of Africa. 

Happy Holidays From A B Pest Control & Insulation

There are many holidays that occur this time of the year, which means families and friends will be coming together, enjoying delicious meals and having fun. Make sure you don't have any uninvited guests, such as pests, crashing your festivities. Call A B Pest Control & Insulation and make sure your home is ready for the holidays! 

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