Celebrate the Jewish festival of lights with sing-alongs, cooking videos and more.
Happy Chanukah! Or is it Hanukkah? While there is a Jewish debate about how to spell this Jewish holiday, everyone can agre that it is the Festival of Lights and Rededication. This holiday celebrates the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem after it was destroyed by the Syrian Greeks. It also celebrates the miracle of the oil that lasted for eight days, hence why Chanukah is eight days long. Chanukah is often celebrated at home with the main ritual being the lighting of the hanukkiah or menorah. It also also customary to eat foods fried and cooked in oil like latkes (potato pancakes) or sufganiyot (jelly donuts). Explore our videos below to learn more about this joyous holiday.
Hanukkah, Chanukah. What is it? Join BimBam staffer Jeremy Shuback for an exploration of the holiday’s history, significance and rituals.
Written by Rabbi Mark Melamut as part of a unique partnership called the Rabbis’ Writing Lab, and shot at the YouTube Space in Los Angeles, it’s a new format for BimBam and we hope you’ll like, share and enjoy it this holiday season.
Chanukah sameach! Happy Festival of Lights. Happy Chanukah.
Spin yourself back in time in this animated short to learn the story of Chanukah and why we celebrate miracles in the darkest and coldest part of the year.
During this eight day and eight night festival of lights people around the world will light candles, play the game of dreidel and enjoy foods made with oil such as latkes and sufganiyot (jelly donuts!)
More Chanukah videos and resources here.
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Learn how to light and say the Jewish blessings over Chanukah candles in a real life preschool class! We are proud to partner with PJ Library to bring you this sweet tutorial. You can practice all three Hebrew blessings for Chanukah right along with us and the Shaboom! cast.
Chanukah sameach – happy Chanukah!
Can the Plony family get the house ready in time for their Chanukah party? Looks like they are in need of a Chanukah miracle. Watch this special Chanukah episode to see how Gabi and Rafi fix the world, one Chanukah party at a time.
This episode is a great jumping off point for playing dreidel, eating sufganiyot, frying up latkes, lighting candles and singing songs. BimBam has videos about how to do all those things, so you have come to the right place! Happy Hanukkah!
The Menorah has been a Jewish symbol and part of Jewish traditions for centuries. But you may have noticed that some menorahs have 7 branches and others have 8 branch? What’s the deal? Find some answers in our quick explainer video featuring Joshua Mallett.
A seven branch menorah are where the candle holders are all on one line. There is no helper candle, or Shamash. This menorah once stood in Jerusalem’s temple and many synagogues today have these menorahs on the bimah (altar).
An eight branch menorah is known to many as the Hanukah menorah. On this menorah, the eight candle holders are all on one line with a ninth candle, or the helper candle (Shamash), out of placed in height or position. This menorah represents the miracle of Hanukah where the oil lasted eight days instead of one.
Looking to learn more about Chanukah? Go here!
Have you ever wondered how bakeries make jelly donuts? Well, we went over to Frena Bakery, one of the few kosher bakeries in the San Francisco Bay Area, to see how its made.
The Hebrew word for jelly donut is sufganiyah (sufganiyot is the plural form). Sufganiyot are originally from Israel. Sufaniyot roughly translates to “sponge.” Like most other donuts they are deep-fried but these sweet sponges are often filled with jelly or custard. They are also typically eaten during the Jewish holiday, Chanukah.
Jewish Indian chef Raj Abassi teaches us how to make pakoras for Chanukah! Pakoras are fried snacks, from India, typically made with different vegetables like eggplant, potato and spinach. It’s not a potato latke, but it’s all about the oil.
Raj’s Pakora Recipe
Ingredients
4-5 medium onions roughly chopped
2 medium potatoes peeled, cut into thin strips cut one inch long
10 Tbs garam/chickpea flour (besan)
2 Tbs rice flour 1 tsp red chili powder (optional according to your taste)
¼ tsp turmeric powder (haldi)
½ tsp cumin powder (jeera)
½ tsp carom seed (ajwain)
½ tsp chat masala (will also need a few pinches for sprinkling at the end)
1 Tbs chopped fresh coriander
1Tbs chopped fresh mint
1 Tbs oil Salt to taste 5-6 cups of oil (for the deep fry)
Method
Peel and cut the onions and potatoes. Mix everything in a bowl (not the frying oil). Add sufficient water to make a thick mixture. Add little by little. Begin to heat the oil in a wok (kadai) or other deep pan suitable for deep frying. Dampen your hands and divide mixture into 2 inch balls. Deep fry balls in batches so that there is only a single layer in the wok at a time. Remove when half done. (This is an art, and takes some experience to know what a half-done pakora looks like. Try 2-3 minutes.) Drain and cool onto a plate covered with absorbent paper towels. Turn down the heat. Flatten balls one by one between your hands also covered with absorbent paper towels. Reheat the oil and deep fry the flattened pakoras till crisp and golden. (5-6 pakoras at a time). Drain again on absorbent paper. Transfer pakoras to serving platter. Sprinkle with chat masala on top. Serve hot with mango, mint/yogurt or tamarind chutney.
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