Happy Hanukkah To All Who Celebrate It!

FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO (LIKE ME)...

... are not all that familiar with Hanukkah... 

According to Wikipedia (at least), it is 

"an eight-day Jewish holiday commemorating the rededication of the Holy Temple (the Second Temple) in Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabean Revolt of the 2nd century BCE. ...

"The festival is observed by the kindling of the lights of a unique candelabrum, the nine-branched Menorah [i.e., strictly speaking, a nine-branched candelabrum] or Hanukiah, one additional light on each night of the holiday, progressing to eight on the final night. ...

"The dates of Hanukkah are determined by the Hebrew calendar. Hanukkah begins at the 25th day of Kislev [i.e., the third month of the civil year and the ninth month of the ecclesiastical year on the Hebrew calendar] and concludes on the 2nd or 3rd day of Tevet [i.e., the fourth month of the civil year and the tenth month of the ecclesiastical year on the Hebrew calendar] (Kislev can have 29 or 30 days). The Jewish day begins at sunset, whereas the Gregorian calendar begins the day at midnight. Hanukkah begins on sunset of the date listed.

"December 8, 2012
November 27, 2013
December 16, 2014
December 6, 2015
December 24, 2016
December 12, 2017
December 2, 2018
December 22, 2019
December 10, 2020"

FOR MORE FROM WIKIPEDIA:

About Hanukkah itself: 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanukkah

*About the Holy Temple: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_in_Jerusalem

*About the Maccabean Revolt: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maccabean_Revolt

AND HERE'S A LINK TO ONE OF A GAZILLION ARTICLES... 

... available of the Web about the beginning of Hanukkah this year...

(Check out the part about the 100-year-old Holocaust survivor.... WOW.)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/jews-around-the-world-start-hanukkah-holiday-with-candle-lighting-potato-pancakes-gifts/2012/12/08/9251e6a4-416b-11e2-8a5c-473797be602c_story.html