Do you know which festival is coming up?

That’s right, it’s Chanuka.

Or Hanukka, or Chanukah, or….

There are about twenty ways of spelling it in Latin letters, but only one in Hebrew: חנוכה

Like the festival of Sukkoth, it’s celebrated in Israel by religious and secular people alike. On each of the eight nights, we light candles (one on the first night, two on the second, and so on) in memory of the time the oil in the Temple lasted for eight days although there was only enough for one. And we eat doughnuts and other items made with oil. And we might play with a sevivon or dreidel or spinning top that will land on one of its four sides, which have letters standing for the words: (a) big miracle happened here.

And we sing songs. Young children love singing all the songs that go with the festival. So do I, but unfortunately I no longer have young children to sing them with.

Anyway, Chanuka is a fun festival, loved by all.

As for that other festival, here where it all happened is one place where you could fail to notice it. Unless you go to the Old City of Jerusalem, where it’s celebrated on three different dates by the different communities.