The eight-day Chanukka festival began yesterday at sunset, marked by the lighting of a nine-branched menorah each night. Each evening, one additional candle is lit using a helper candle. Chanukka, also known as the Festival of Lights or the Temple Festival, commemorates the successful Jewish revolt against Greek rule following Alexander the Great’s conquests and the rededication of the desecrated Jerusalem Temple in 164 BCE.

Central to the celebration is the miracle of the oil, where a small amount of pure oil burned for eight days in the Temple, allowing time to prepare more. Families and friends gather to celebrate, with children receiving gifts and traditional foods such as sufganiyot and latkes enjoyed. In Berlin, a giant Chanukka menorah was inaugurated near the Brandenburg Gate last week, and in Chemnitz, festivities have opened the “Year of Jewish Culture” with approximately 350 events planned in Saxony.