Chanukkah or Hannukah (or pretty much any variant spelling you fancy) is a Jewish holiday that has earned a disproportionate amount of significance due to its proximity to December 25.

It is regarded as a ?Jewish Christmas? and some attach to it all the elaborate gift-giving and decoration that accompanies the big day for Christians.

It is actually deeply ironic that Chanukkah, the Jewish festival of rededication, which has its roots in a revolution against assimilation and the suppression of Jewish religion, has become the most assimilated, secular holiday in the calendar.

It remains a relatively unimportant holiday but, traditionally, has gained significance so that Jewish children don?t feel left out at this time of year.

Chanukah, also known as the festival of lights, is an eight day festival beginning on the 25th day of the Jewish month of Kislev, which, this year, was last night.

The only real religious observance related to the holiday is the lighting of candles.

The story of Chanukkah begins in the reign of Alexander the Great.

He conquered Syria, Egypt and Palestine, but allowed the lands under his control to continue observing their own religions and retain a certain degree of autonomy.

Under this relatively benevolent rule, many Jews borrowed much of Hellenistic culture, adopting the language, the customs and the dress of the Greeks, in much the same way that Bermudian Jews blend into secular society.

More than a century later, a successor of Alexander, Antiochus IV was in control of the region and he began to oppress the Jews severely, placing a Hellenistic priest in their Temple, massacring them, prohibiting the practice of the Jewish religion, and desecrating the sacred Temple by requiring the sacrifice of pigs (a non-kosher animal) on the altar.

Two groups opposed Antiochus were a basically nationalistic group led by Mattathias the Hasmonean and his son Judah Maccabee, and a religious traditionalist group known as the Chasidim.

They joined forces in a revolt against both the assimilation of the Hellenistic Jews and oppression by the Greek government.

The revolution succeeded and the Temple was rededicated. According to tradition at the time of the rededication, there was very little oil left that had not been defiled by the Greeks.

Oil was needed for the menorah, a candelabra, in the Temple, which was supposed to burn throughout the night every night.

There was only enough oil to burn for one day, yet miraculously, it burned for eight days ? the time needed to prepare a fresh supply of oil for the menorah.

An eight day festival was declared to commemorate this miracle.

During Chanukah, the candles are arranged in a candelabrum called a menorah (or sometimes called a chanukkiah) that holds nine candles; one for each night, plus a shammus (servant) at a different height.

On the first night, one candle is placed at the far right. The shammus candle is lit and three blessings are recited.

After reciting the blessings, the first candle is then lit using the shammus candle, and the shammus candle is placed in its holder. The candles are allowed to burn out on their own after a minimum of hour.

Each night, another candle is added from right to left, on the eighth night, all nine candles.

It is traditional to eat fried foods on Chanukkah because of the significance of oil to the holiday, with potato latkes a particular favourite.

Present-giving, many gentiles will be surprised to learn, is not a traditional part of the holiday, but has been added in places where Jews have a lot of contact with Christians, as a way of dealing with children?s jealousy of their Christian friends.

It is extremely unusual for Jews to give Chanukkah gifts to anyone other than their own young children.

The only traditional gift of the holiday is ?gelt,? small amounts of money ? although many parents replace this with chocolate-money instead.

The other tradition of the holiday is playing dreidel, a gambling game played with a square top.

Most kids play for matchsticks, sweets or chocolate coins using a dreidel marked with four Hebrew letters.