Everyone knows that the holiday season is a prime-time source for funny tweets, smashing jokes, good ol' dad jokes, and anything that combines family drama, constant overeating, low-key cocktail intoxication, and you name it. For Christmas, you've got one kind of a funny drill, for Thanksgiving, it’s another kind of fun, and Hanukkah offers a whole other fountain of hilarity to tweet about.
And this year, The Festival of Lights started on December 10 and it’ll be rolling until the 18th, so you've got plenty of time to reflect on Jewish goodness like eating latkes for breakfast and coming up with gifts for a toddler who expects a present every consecutive night. Nobody said parenting was easy, but try doing it on Hanukkah.
So this time, we’ve rounded up some of the funniest Hanukkah tweets that have been surfing around social media and cracking smiles on their way.
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I accept your dare and I raise you by two. I live in a colorful country in which we regularly celebrate two Christmases (yes, the Catholic/protestant and the Orthodox one), Hanukkah, and two Eids, because we are traditionally that mixed as a society. BAM! Unfortunately, we don't yet have a substantial population of Hindus, Buddhists, etc. to add to the toll.
Traditionally, Hanukkah starts on the 35th day of Kislev (the 9th month of the Hebrew calendar.) For eight nights that typically happen somewhere between late November and mid-December, candles are lit in a menorah.
During each lighting, people recite blessings and prayers, sing songs, and exchange gifts. Although it used to be a somewhat minor religious holiday, Hanukkah has become one of the most awaited celebrations since it grew popular in the 20th century.
According to Tatjana Lichtenstein, the director of the Schusterman Center for Jewish Studies at the University of Texas at Austin, Hanukkah “offered an opportunity for Jews to participate in the holiday celebrations complete with gift-giving and merry-making without giving up their distinct religious and cultural identities.”
Historically, instead of candles, the celebrants would light oil lamps just like the lights from the Hanukkah story. “In the Hebrew Bible, in the Old Testament in several places, it speaks of pure-beaten olive oil for the light. Olive oil was the main oil of this region and very little other oil was ever used,” Rafael Frankel, an Israeli archeologist, told NPR.
It turns out that Jews started using candles in the 18th century because they were a cleaner and cheaper alternative. People from Eastern Europe “couldn’t get olive oil in the middle of the winter because it’s expensive,” Sten Fine, the director of the Yeshiva University Center for Israel Studies, told TIME.
My dad did this every single Christmas. He gave us crap he wanted. "Oh, you don't want that Jackson Brown CD? I guess I'll take it then." Every god damned Christmas since we were kids.
Had to look up what latkes are. Didn't realize we often eat a traditional Jewish food every other week. (Not Jewish, no Jewish ancestors) We mostly have apple-sauce with it. Lovely food!
In the Netherlands we have Sinterklaas, children get ( little)presents in their shoes for 14 days..
Yeah, I can imagine that little kids don't quite understand not to touch fire yet.
Oh, this is from 2012. Could have sworn it was from 2020, because I wouldn't put it past this year to pull armageddon.
One of the nights we gave a gift to a child or children in need instead of our daughter.
I don't know much about jewish traditions, thanks to this post I' ll do some research :-) Happy Hanukkah to all of you
I don't know much about jewish traditions, thanks to this post I' ll do some research :-) Happy Hanukkah to all of you