In Israel we never get presents on Hanukkah (only chocolate or pocket money for the children). I'm pretty sure the whole presents thing started in countries where Christmas is celebrated so the Jewish kids won't be jealous of the Christian kids for getting presents on Christmas, but correct me if I'm wrong~
Manly Moesha You can't culturally appropriate from the dominant culture. It has to be a more dominant (or equal) culture that not only adopts the practices, but also twists them in a manner that is harmful to those they took it from. Judaists giving presents to their kids for Chanukah? That actually BENEFITS the majority culture, which has a capitalist structure.
I will show this video to my 7 year old son. We celebrate Christmas but his school is a very diverse one. He asked me about Hanukkah and other holiday celebrations, and I couldn't explain to him.
I wasn't raised to have any understanding of Judaism or any other religion really. I was brought up in a predominantly baptist Christian belief system and although I don't really follow the teachings or adhere to a lot of the standards of fundamental Christianity today as an adult, I LOVE seeing you talk about what being Jewish means to you, and how you choose to observe and celebrate it in your own personal way, while still honoring your traditional values. I think it's really beautiful to learn and understand different religions and spiritual belief, especially from those that are open-minded and compassionate towards other people that see things differently, like you. You're just fantastic Mayim. I love your joy and zest for everything you say and do. Thank you for being a positive and thoughtful voice amidst the chaos we're all too used to seeing in media everywhere. You're truly a breath of fresh air. 💖💖💖💖
She wasn't explaining "her own personal way", she was explaining the truths and falsehoods behind what Americans interpret Jewish holidays to signify. You may have no religion whatsoever and that's fine. But don't insult Mayim by making her seem like she's explaining her personally created meaning of the Jewish holidays. Some Jewish communities may possibly do things a little differently from each other, but overall Mayim is giving a general explanation of how the Jewish celebrate.
Mayim Bialik has a joyful way of making education about Hanukkah entertaining and non-mystical. I love her summation: Every Hanukkiah is a Menorah but not every Menorah is a Hanukkiah. Happy Hanukkah fellow Academes!
Ironic. It's a religious holiday that celebrates a religious zealot who massacred his fellow Jews for not practicing Judaism purely enough. He wanted to choose and impose his monotheistic beliefs on everyone and killed or forced to flee those who did not agree. So... Religious freedom???
You should check out the videos by her friend, Alison Josephs who created Jew in the City. She and Mayim are learning partners and close friends. Feel free to PM me, if you'd like. All the best and Happy Chanukah!
It was interesting to learn about how the holiday switches around. I never knew that people who celebrated Hanukkah used a different calendar instead of the traditional Gregorian calendar. It was also interesting to learn about what Hanukkah was truly about.
You are a trip in the best way I always learn something and I love you such an wonderful lady. Happy that you and your family are prat of ours via RUclips and all of your works be it books or television; helping to teach my daughter that science, math, and being a girl as she is 15/ young women is beautiful and empowering- I am one very thankful mom.
Thank you for this!!! I recently learned I have pretty extensive Jewish heritage, so I’m celebrating Chanukah for the first time this year and trying to learn more about it. I got some of the true/false things wrong so this was very educational and enjoyable for me. Happy Chanukah Mayim!
Such a fun video! I am Christian with a Jewish family and I loved doing Hanukkah activities with them. The dreidel was my favorite along with eating lots of chocolate coins
I super appreciate you doing this video! I teach elementary school music and I am incorporating Hanukkah into my lessons this year and they really enjoyed listening to you explanation and your quiz. My students haven't had as much exposure to traditions other than the ones they participate in themselves, so being able to show an entertaining video that is also very informative helped them understand Hanukkah better than i ever could have explained it!
Thank you so much. I have a class of 50% Jewish children. I knew so little about Hanukkah that I went searching and found you. This is a great video and I will be showing it to my 6th grade class.
Funny we were talking about how much we would love to celebrate Christmas!! We just made our vlog about Hanukkah in Israel and we would really appreciate it if you could watch :) ruclips.net/video/UzcCMktvuiQ/видео.html Thank you so much!! And Happy hollidays :)
Today I learned that Hanukkah is actually fattening and delicious and fun and empowering and not (necessarily) eight days of presents. Yay learning! Happy Hanukkah!
I learned that Hanukkah is about a group of Jews called the Maccabees defeating the Seleucid army in the second century BC. It's also about the miracle of an oil that was supposed to last 1 day but lasted 8 days! Finally, I learned that Hanukkah is about defeating oppression, religious freedom, and that what you believe in is worth your life.
Hi! You are amazing! I’m a Jew, and I live in Israel. I appreciate you SO MUCH for doing what you’re doing. You are incredible, Mayim. By the way, my name’s is Maya, which means water which in Hebrew it’s mayim, so basically we share a name. Ignore me, I love you. Thank you for doing what you doing!!! Hanukkah sameach!! (Happy Hanukkah)
I liked this video the best because it gave me insight into Hanukkah. I learned that Hanukkah is not a big holiday in the Jewish faith in terms of importance and that its not equivalent to Christmas. This is helpful to know because I have friends and family that are Jewish and this lets me know more about their faith.
I am a pantheist, I was looking how to please a jewish lady who is visiting me on the first day of Hannukah. I lovvve your energetic, fun and very informative presentation. Thank you, gracias.
It's so liberating for me that you are a TV star and are open and strong about your religious faith. I was verbally to sexually abused and manipulated for being a girl/woman who is rooted in my religious, ethnic, traditional background. And guess what, fun fact almost 100% white feminists encouraged the abuse, or never spoke up against it in my life. This kind if thing is much more common than ppl know or wish to admit. I've had a really difficult time finding religous/Spiritual community in the last 10 years or so. Because of you, I became inspired and internally pulled to go and visit a Temple in Newton Ma. It was a really profound experience. I brought back the profound experience I had in Israel and Palestine over a decade ago. I hope to go to my first Saturday morning Shabbat (I think that's what it's called, sorry, I'm still learning) this Saturday. Thanks Mayim. I appreciate this cyber conversation! Anshin
I learned that Hanukkah is a minor holiday. During major holidays you can't drive a car, write, etc. But because it is a minor holiday you can do all of these.
You are so awesome! I 15yrs ago I gave up a lifetime of organized Christianity forever for Lent and the Catholic fallacy that protected the Priests and the men who decided their fate for the rest of us, their victims. And now the total abandonment of morality in politics by "people of faith" has cemented the door shut that I will EVER embrace a church again, catholic or prostestant. Now, in my judeo-christian faith I am more jew than christian. But its a private faith. Thanks for affirming that faith can still be a comfort and strength for those of us who now choose to go it alone.
I get what you're saying. When people ask me what religion I am, I say, "I'm a follower of an early first century Jewish sect." We Christians owe the entirety of the religion to Judaism, thinking about what Dr. Bialik said, "Not all menorahs are Hunukkiahs, but all Hannukkias are menorahs" (Christians are the Hanukkiahs). I too, am learning about Hebrew culture and loving it! I know it's been 6 years since you posted this, and I hope your journey has been fulfilling for you.
Hi Mayim, I loved your video on Hanukkah!! I am a Baptist Sunday school teacher in Idaho and we were studying John 10 and I said to myself what is the festival of dedication and found out it was Hanukkah. When Judah the Maccabee and His group dedicated Solomon's temple back to God after the Seleucid's messed it up. This event happened 100 years after Nehemiah was released by the Persians to rebuild the walls in Jerusalem. I love studying Jewish History. And am a huge follower of Jesus the Jew. I will show this video to my Jr. and Sr. high class next Sunday day 6 of Hanukkah 2018.
Mayim is the best. I'm Jewish and I absolutely love her style, blasphemous as it may be at times. I was totally wowed by her when she was a child in "Beaches" and I've been a devoted fan ever since. Huzzah & Todah Rabbah, Mayim!!!
I love your pure excitment so much! "Happu nothing" hahah. It's amazing that two festivities fell on one day! I hope you'll have an amazing birthday and hanukkah!
I grew up with a Jewish mother and a Catholic father. My father had his traditions and my mother had her traditions, their kids learned much about both religions. We lived with a very enriched household, except for the yelling in the house! LOL!
I like how she went into depth with this subject. It is also very interesting to learn about different cultures, and how they do very differnt things for holidays such as Hanukkah.
I've just downloaded this magical gem to show to my grade-school kids at the JCC where I work. This is the most realistic, descriptive, and wonderful explanation I've ever found! Thanks Mayim!
Great video. One of the doughnut shops here in Washington makes sufganiyot instead of just jelly doughnuts. So good. [Burp] And such a wonderful observance for us diabetics. A coworker once asked me the significance of the chocolate coins I was sharing one year. I had to tell her there really isn't any. She became angry, thinking perhaps that I didn't want to share with her the deep meaning. Such is life. Chanukkah sameach!
No, the Hebrew calendar is not a lunar calendar, but a lunar-solar calendar, as opposed to the Gregorian strictly solar calendar. This means that the Gregorian calendar adheres only to the yearly cycle of the sun, disregarding the monthly cycle of the moon, whereas the Hebrew calendar adheres to both simultaneously. This makes it a perennial calendar, meaning it DOES NOT "shift around". An example for a lunar calendar, disregarding the cycle of the sun, would be the Muslim calendar. Any two calendarial systems would obviously not have an exact match every single year, because, well... They count time differently.
This was a very interesting and fun video. I had always thought that Hanukkah was a big holiday, but it turns out that it is a minor holiday. On major holidays, they refrain from using things like electricity or driving cars, but that doesn't happen on Hanukkah. I also learned that oily foods such as latkes and donuts are eaten on this holiday.
You are wonderful but please note that candles are placed in the Chanukiah from right to left and then lit from left to right. The video was a great teaching tool this year! I posted it and used it for my adult classes & for young students as well. I had a student 40 years ago who told me that her family used ketchup as well. Hey, it makes sense to me! BTW, I had hernia surgery this morning and your videos are cheering me up this afternoon (along with the fact that I don’t have to go to my synagogue board meeting tonight). For tomorrow, happy Shushan Chanukah! 😁
Mayim, I am so thrilled that you posted this. My elementary students are researching December Holidays (in an attempt to bring cultural awareness) and today is the start of Hannukah. We are watching your video and then they have to add to their research. And - Happy Birthday!
Thank you so much for these videos. I've always had a fascination with religions and I really love hearing from a believer how and why they love/celebrate/practice them. The world needs more videos like this!!
I'm not Hebrew and I don't follow the religion of Judaism but one year, about the time other people started asking, "Are you ready for Christmas?" I started replying, "Are you ready for Hanukkah?" One of my co-workers snarled, "NO! I'm not Jewish!" Well, it seems to me that it would be enormously helpful if people would learn some things about other beliefs and practices than their parents'. So I keep spitting into the wind. Thanks for raising awareness. P.S. The co-worker in question later apologized for her retort.
you are amazing!! Every post that you post about the religious or about Israel make me proud and it's very special to me! You are a really special woman and thank you for that. love you from Israel
היי אנחנו זוג וולוגרים חדשים מישראל וממש נשמח לכל עזרה ותמיכה אפשרית :) יש מצב שתראי את הוולוגים שלנו ותרשמי לערוץ שלנו אם את אוהבת? הם כולם באנגלית אבל לא נראה שיש לך בעיה עם זה :) bit.ly/2AKticO המון המון תודה וסופ"ש נעים
Really great vid Mayim! Love the enthusiasm. Those little net bags of chocolate coins have been a fixture of my festivities since I was a kid. Happy Hanukkah and Birthday to you. Such a lovely lady!
My neighbor is jewish and I’m a muslim. We’re good friends! One time in the major festivals I tried to get in contact with him and he was totally MIA but now that you explained it. Makes a lot more sense, no work and disconnecting from everything
Thank you Mayim for sharing your beautiful spirit! I have a lot of Jewish friends who tell me, "You should be Jewish! Oy! What a Rebbi (I know it's actually Rabbi but Rebbi, as it was explained to me, is a beloved Rabbi - what? you think I'm that meshugana(?)?)you would have made! (I was, at one time, on the path to becoming a minister). I love Jewish food, Yiddish, and gorgeous Semitic men! Semitic good looks is a true-ism to me! Our New Mexico Gay Men's Chorus is doing 3 Hanukkah songs for our winter holiday concert - Light the Legend, Burn and the Hanukkah Can Can. Mazel Mazel to you and yours!
I am grateful that Mayim shows respect for the Christian beliefs about Christmas. A lot of Hanukkah videos are quite disrespectful about _anything_ to do with Yeshua or Christianity. So thank you, Mayim, for not speaking down to or down of Christianity. Our household celebrates _both_ Hanukkah and Christmas. I enjoy hearing different family traditions (like ketchup with latkes 😂) in different videos. While we’re applesauce fans, it’s always nice to learn about other family traditions. The best thing? This video shared without stereotypes or disrespectful dialogue. WTG, Mayim!!! 😄
you got the menorah part slightly wrong - the 7th candle in the temple's menorah was not used to light the others. the fire to light the menorah was taken from the altar at the temple's courtyard.
Great job. One addition: the Menorah with the 7 candles is a symbol dating back to the Temple in Jerusalem. It's depicted in Rome on Titus gate showing the destruction of the Temple by the Romans. The Hannukah "menorah" resembles it but like you said has 2 more candles = 9 total. Two similar Jewish symbols with different origins and meanings.
As a Catholic who celebrates Christmas its always intriguing to learn about a new celebration. It was so interesting to learn about new facts and traditions that Jewish people share among them. One thing that I found interesting was the food they eat during this holiday like latkes and jelly donuts.
One new thing I learned about the Jewish tradition of Hanukkah is that, even though people do receive some gifts over a period of days, the holiday itself is based around many more meaningful concepts. For instance, Hanukkah is about finding light in darkness, fighting for what you believe in, and staying strong in the face of adversity. Hanukkah is also considered a "minor holiday" in the Jewish faith, which means people can still go about their normal lives and do things such as driving and working on Hanukkah. Some people think that Hannukkah is the "Jewish Christmas" since Christmas does fall around the same time, but the two holidays are completely unrelated.
and Tomorrow is Rohatsu :) A Buddhist holiday celebrating the Enlightenment of Lord Shakyamuni Butsu (Gautama Buddha), i hope you find Christmas as annoying as i do lol
Geoffrey Stewart I wouldn't mind being one of "those people" and just celebrate Christmas on just Christmas day. Just... I've three parties next week, out of town, all with white elephant games. Too much, bro! Too much. Enjoy your Buddhist holiday.
deekat3279 White Elephant is a gift giving game. All the participants bring a gift -most WE games have a criteria of what kind of gift to bring, like price range or theme. All the gifts are wrapped, have no tags on them, and are placed in a pile. All players blindly draw lots to see who goes first, all the way to who plays last. At a turn, a player grabs a gift from the pile and owns to see what they get. However, a player can also choose to take whatever gift opened by another player, keeping the gift for themself. An open gift can be taken three times. At the third time, the gift is "frozen", meaning it cannot be taken again. Once the last gift is open, the game ends, and everyone keeps what they opened or took. It is fun a fun game; it's just three in one weekend feels a bit much. Hope they don't mind I might just bring a wrapped bag of sweets.
You have such an easy-going and fun way of explaining things like this. It's so helpful! Thank you for teaching me the things I never got to learn from my Jewish grandma before she passed away when I was young. I seriously love you, Mayim! :)
Thank you Mayim for all your supportive videos (They really have helped me) Although you seem to think/want every person is/needs to be Jewish (I'm Christian for example) but learning about other peoples culture is fun. Thank You
Ok i watched this video when it was first realeased 6 years ago, then i watched The Chosen and had more questions so I qued up this video again. I Mayim and i love my the Jewish people and culture. God bless them and keep them, and give them your peace during these crazy times. i pray for the peace of Israel and holiness in America 🙏. 🫂🤗
I know it's a long shot, but I am going to ask anyway. If the fifth night falls on shabbat what do you do. Does it make a difference between orthodox vrs contemporary/liberal families?
Hey Mayim - lots of respest for the factual accuracy and of course for presentation, which is light (pun) and informative for those who never knew these facts. Special respect for your cuntinuing, open and genuine expression of support for Israel, my sister
Finding light in the darkness is one of the closest ideas to Christianity 😄 Yeshua is the Light of the world... and as for that oil that lasted 8 days .. Yeshuas Father did that!! Love my Hebrew family were all one in Messiah🙌🏽 you’ll see💕💕💕💕💕💕😄
I love your Jewish holiday videos-- especially Purim!!!! Wondering if you could make one about the V'ahavta. Let me explain: My daughter is preparing for her Bat Mitzvah, and this is her Torah portion. Emi has some intellectual disabilities-- so this is a joy and a challenge. I'm so excited for her, and our Rabbi is awesome. But I'm also overwhelmed and searching for ways to keep her focus and attention. I love that this is her torah portion-- Love, and Rules... right up her alley. Anyway, today I thought, I wonder if Mayim Bialik has made a super fun and engaging video about the meaning of the V'ahavta! What do you think?
I think it's time to make some latkes and challah after watching this. Curse you for making me waste a day on delicious food! Also I never had a birthday party growing up because of Chanukah. My mom's family isn't Jewish but my dad's is. My grandmother on my dad's side took my sister and I to temple every Friday and sometimes Saturday. She even taught me how to read Hebrew. Anyways because my birthday is the 23rd of December, so awkward, my birthday tended to be used to celebrate all the holidays at once or nothing at all after my parents divorced. On the plus side I'm teaching my mother in law about Chanukah because she was curious about it. She is so willing to absorb the knowledge and even requested a Torah for me to teach her some hebrew. I even helped her paint a table she uses during special occassions with Hebrew.
Jewish Mom here who really loved the video! But Mayim, didn't you load the menorah backwards? Isn't it correct to load from right to left, but LIGHT from left to right? Would love to have some feedback on this. 🕎💕
We have guilt-chocolate coins We also use the chocolate coins to play the game dreidel We also have sufganiyot-jelly donuts And my favourite potato pancakes-lakars Even if I knew all this already this is a really cool and helpful video I know a lot of people can learn off of it And a sukkah if the tent we make. The festival is actually called sukkot
My ex girlfriend was Jewish and her family did a lot of presents. So I gave her a Christmas present on Christmas and had her celebrate that with me and for the 8 days of Hanukkah I went over and did that with her and got presents and everything else. It was a fun experience for both of us
I used this video to teach my 7th and 8th grade class about Hanukkah! Thank you! I learned so much from this video and I know they did too! I also love how fun it was!
Mayim, thank you so much for this. Just the right length, great tone, and I didn't know anything about Hanukkah before this. I have Jewish friends I admire very much and it seems that learning a little about the faith is the least I can do if I want to be considered their friend. Also, what happened to Jeopardy?? You were great and I really don't care for the present host. What a disappointment. I hope it was a choice you made and not them...Glad you are having so much fun with your life. It is an inspiration. PS I worked as a research assistant in Behavioral Neurology for 7 years--Damasio's lab--in another life, hardy har.
From a Christian religious standpoint, Easter is a more important holiday than Christmas (just as the Fourth of July is more important than Washington's Birthday). But as Christianity spread to North European countries with cold dark winters, Christmas was inflated to cheer people up in the winter. Hanukkah is also not the most important religious holiday in the Jewish calendar, but was inflated to rival Christmas. As Jewish people became successful in celebrating their ethnic pride during Hanukkah and bar/t mitzvahs, this inspired certain other minority groups to create or inflate ethnic celebrations.
In every temple do boys and girls have to sit on opposite sides or is that just some temples? I was thinking about visiting my local one but when I read the seating arrangements it just seemed out dated. I just wanted to see if it's every or only a few.
In Israel we never get presents on Hanukkah (only chocolate or pocket money for the children). I'm pretty sure the whole presents thing started in countries where Christmas is celebrated so the Jewish kids won't be jealous of the Christian kids for getting presents on Christmas, but correct me if I'm wrong~
PetalHoney אצלינו מביאים מתנות בנר הראשון
Nope....
And you also don't get the Messiah. Which we gentiles wish you did.
Manly Moesha You can't culturally appropriate from the dominant culture. It has to be a more dominant (or equal) culture that not only adopts the practices, but also twists them in a manner that is harmful to those they took it from. Judaists giving presents to their kids for Chanukah? That actually BENEFITS the majority culture, which has a capitalist structure.
לי מביאים כסף וכשהייתי קטן את השקיות עם המטבעות שוקולד P:
I will show this video to my 7 year old son. We celebrate Christmas but his school is a very diverse one. He asked me about Hanukkah and other holiday celebrations, and I couldn't explain to him.
I wasn't raised to have any understanding of Judaism or any other religion really. I was brought up in a predominantly baptist Christian belief system and although I don't really follow the teachings or adhere to a lot of the standards of fundamental Christianity today as an adult, I LOVE seeing you talk about what being Jewish means to you, and how you choose to observe and celebrate it in your own personal way, while still honoring your traditional values. I think it's really beautiful to learn and understand different religions and spiritual belief, especially from those that are open-minded and compassionate towards other people that see things differently, like you. You're just fantastic Mayim. I love your joy and zest for everything you say and do. Thank you for being a positive and thoughtful voice amidst the chaos we're all too used to seeing in media everywhere. You're truly a breath of fresh air. 💖💖💖💖
She wasn't explaining "her own personal way", she was explaining the truths and falsehoods behind what Americans interpret Jewish holidays to signify. You may have no religion whatsoever and that's fine. But don't insult Mayim by making her seem like she's explaining her personally created meaning of the Jewish holidays. Some Jewish communities may possibly do things a little differently from each other, but overall Mayim is giving a general explanation of how the Jewish celebrate.
I’m Roman Catholic, but nevertheless I love Jewish culture and traditions. Specially when one of the stars from my favourite sit com talk about it😁👏😍
I am a Christian. This video was really educational for me! I loved your enthusiasm
Humour and editing on this video is fantastic!
Last time i learned about this subject, it was from the holiday armadillo.
lol
My boy Ross!!
Hilarious my friend!
Lol!!! Love it!
😂😂😂😂
Mayim Bialik has a joyful way of making education about Hanukkah entertaining and non-mystical. I love her summation: Every Hanukkiah is a Menorah but not every Menorah is a Hanukkiah. Happy Hanukkah fellow Academes!
Three cheers for religious freedom and greasy food!! ✡️🕎✡️🕎✡️👏👏👏
Amen, Hanukkah is mainly about being willing to die for your religious freedom.
Ironic. It's a religious holiday that celebrates a religious zealot who massacred his fellow Jews for not practicing Judaism purely enough. He wanted to choose and impose his monotheistic beliefs on everyone and killed or forced to flee those who did not agree. So... Religious freedom???
We give money in Hannukah. She said we don't give presents.
@@xydoit2024 depends on ones practices some give money,, candy, others presents, or/and some nothing
Being a Catholic, I just learned a lot!! Thank You
So did I
Norwegian evangelist Lutheran
Thank you for explanatory video
So did i
Same here!😁
So interesting, thank you. I want to do this. I'm Jewish by birth but wasn't brought up in the faith. This practice looks so satisfying.
You should check out the videos by her friend, Alison Josephs who created Jew in the City. She and Mayim are learning partners and close friends. Feel free to PM me, if you'd like. All the best and Happy Chanukah!
love the way you tell us all about the traditions and holidays happy Hanukkah xxx
finding light in darkness sounds beautiful and is what I need after this dreadful year for our country. Thank you 😊
And you thought 5 years ago was bad! Hope you are all well.
It was interesting to learn about how the holiday switches around. I never knew that people who celebrated Hanukkah used a different calendar instead of the traditional Gregorian calendar. It was also interesting to learn about what Hanukkah was truly about.
You are a trip in the best way I always learn something and I love you such an wonderful lady. Happy that you and your family are prat of ours via RUclips and all of your works be it books or television; helping to teach my daughter that science, math, and being a girl as she is 15/ young women is beautiful and empowering- I am one very thankful mom.
Thank you for this!!! I recently learned I have pretty extensive Jewish heritage, so I’m celebrating Chanukah for the first time this year and trying to learn more about it. I got some of the true/false things wrong so this was very educational and enjoyable for me. Happy Chanukah Mayim!
Such a fun video! I am Christian with a Jewish family and I loved doing Hanukkah activities with them. The dreidel was my favorite along with eating lots of chocolate coins
Hi!!! I have a birthday on Hanukah!!! Mazal Tov to us all!!!
אלון גרעיני - AlonGarini happy both!
And *ANOTHER* 12/12 here.
I super appreciate you doing this video! I teach elementary school music and I am incorporating Hanukkah into my lessons this year and they really enjoyed listening to you explanation and your quiz. My students haven't had as much exposure to traditions other than the ones they participate in themselves, so being able to show an entertaining video that is also very informative helped them understand Hanukkah better than i ever could have explained it!
Came on to say the same thing. This is a great explanation and I can't wait to share it with my students.
Thank you so much. I have a class of 50% Jewish children. I knew so little about Hanukkah that I went searching and found you. This is a great video and I will be showing it to my 6th grade class.
I love this girl!. She's so witty and talented!!!
I love mayim. She is so funny and I'd love to have a Jewish holiday she makes them sound really interesting and exciting
Anna Williams They are. My opinion from Israel ;)
Funny we were talking about how much we would love to celebrate Christmas!! We just made our vlog about Hanukkah in Israel and we would really appreciate it if you could watch :) ruclips.net/video/UzcCMktvuiQ/видео.html Thank you so much!! And Happy hollidays :)
OMG the pijama with cats&glasses *I'm in love*
So much fun! Sign me up for the oily food goodness!!!
Whats In My Life 2017 6
Today I learned that Hanukkah is actually fattening and delicious and fun and empowering and not (necessarily) eight days of presents. Yay learning! Happy Hanukkah!
I learned that Hanukkah is about a group of Jews called the Maccabees defeating the Seleucid army in the second century BC. It's also about the miracle of an oil that was supposed to last 1 day but lasted 8 days! Finally, I learned that Hanukkah is about defeating oppression, religious freedom, and that what you believe in is worth your life.
Hi! You are amazing!
I’m a Jew, and I live in Israel. I appreciate you SO MUCH for doing what you’re doing.
You are incredible, Mayim.
By the way, my name’s is Maya, which means water which in Hebrew it’s mayim, so basically we share a name.
Ignore me, I love you.
Thank you for doing what you doing!!!
Hanukkah sameach!! (Happy Hanukkah)
Maya Sadeh מאיה זה לא אומר מים בעברית שקרנית לול😂
COMEDY TOWN מאיה זה מים בארמית
Mayim is actually Yiddish, not Hebrew.
@@jocelynmcelroy3034 I'm Israeli and Mayim is water in HEBREW, maybe it's also in Yiddish, but it's definitely water in hebrew.
I liked this video the best because it gave me insight into Hanukkah. I learned that Hanukkah is not a big holiday in the Jewish faith in terms of importance and that its not equivalent to Christmas. This is helpful to know because I have friends and family that are Jewish and this lets me know more about their faith.
Everything I know about Hanukkah, I learned from Rugrats. ... And this video!
CaptainSarahSparrow SAAAAAME
I am a pantheist, I was looking how to please a jewish lady who is visiting me on the first day of Hannukah. I lovvve your energetic, fun and very informative presentation. Thank you, gracias.
חג שמח ומזל טוב💐
It's so liberating for me that you are a TV star and are open and strong about your religious faith. I was verbally to sexually abused and manipulated for being a girl/woman who is rooted in my religious, ethnic, traditional background. And guess what, fun fact almost 100% white feminists encouraged the abuse, or never spoke up against it in my life. This kind if thing is much more common than ppl know or wish to admit. I've had a really difficult time finding religous/Spiritual community in the last 10 years or so. Because of you, I became inspired and internally pulled to go and visit a Temple in Newton Ma. It was a really profound experience. I brought back the profound experience I had in Israel and Palestine over a decade ago. I hope to go to my first Saturday morning Shabbat (I think that's what it's called, sorry, I'm still learning) this Saturday. Thanks Mayim. I appreciate this cyber conversation! Anshin
I learned that Hanukkah is a minor holiday. During major holidays you can't drive a car, write, etc. But because it is a minor holiday you can do all of these.
You are so awesome! I 15yrs ago I gave up a lifetime of organized Christianity forever for Lent and the Catholic fallacy that protected the Priests and the men who decided their fate for the rest of us, their victims. And now the total abandonment of morality in politics by "people of faith" has cemented the door shut that I will EVER embrace a church again, catholic or prostestant. Now, in my judeo-christian faith I am more jew than christian. But its a private faith. Thanks for affirming that faith can still be a comfort and strength for those of us who now choose to go it alone.
I get what you're saying. When people ask me what religion I am, I say, "I'm a follower of an early first century Jewish sect." We Christians owe the entirety of the religion to Judaism, thinking about what Dr. Bialik said, "Not all menorahs are Hunukkiahs, but all Hannukkias are menorahs" (Christians are the Hanukkiahs).
I too, am learning about Hebrew culture and loving it!
I know it's been 6 years since you posted this, and I hope your journey has been fulfilling for you.
You just make me smile with your genuine happiness and energy!
Hi Mayim, I loved your video on Hanukkah!! I am a Baptist Sunday school teacher in Idaho and we were studying John 10 and I said to myself what is the festival of dedication and found out it was Hanukkah. When Judah the Maccabee and His group dedicated Solomon's temple back to God after the Seleucid's messed it up. This event happened 100 years after Nehemiah was released by the Persians to rebuild the walls in Jerusalem. I love studying Jewish History. And am a huge follower of Jesus the Jew. I will show this video to my Jr. and Sr. high class next Sunday day 6 of Hanukkah 2018.
My mistake Nehemiah rebuilt the temple 300 years before the Maccabees cleaned took back Judea and cleaned up the temple.
Happy Birthday and Happy Chanukah, Mayim! You're terrific.
Mayim is the best. I'm Jewish and I absolutely love her style, blasphemous as it may be at times. I was totally wowed by her when she was a child in "Beaches" and I've been a devoted fan ever since. Huzzah & Todah Rabbah, Mayim!!!
I love your pure excitment so much! "Happu nothing" hahah. It's amazing that two festivities fell on one day! I hope you'll have an amazing birthday and hanukkah!
I work in a Jewish school at lunch times and what you explained in your video has told me a lot about the religion. Thank you Mayim
I grew up in a Christian family and now I want to start collecting dreidels. Great and educational video.
I grew up with a Jewish mother and a Catholic father. My father had his traditions and my mother had her traditions, their kids learned much about both religions. We lived with a very enriched household, except for the yelling in the house! LOL!
I like how she went into depth with this subject. It is also very interesting to learn about different cultures, and how they do very differnt things for holidays such as Hanukkah.
trick questions in the pop Hanukkah quiz, you like to keep us on our toes
I've just downloaded this magical gem to show to my grade-school kids at the JCC where I work. This is the most realistic, descriptive, and wonderful explanation I've ever found! Thanks Mayim!
Great video.
One of the doughnut shops here in Washington makes sufganiyot instead of just jelly doughnuts. So good. [Burp] And such a wonderful observance for us diabetics.
A coworker once asked me the significance of the chocolate coins I was sharing one year. I had to tell her there really isn't any. She became angry, thinking perhaps that I didn't want to share with her the deep meaning. Such is life.
Chanukkah sameach!
No, the Hebrew calendar is not a lunar calendar, but a lunar-solar calendar, as opposed to the Gregorian strictly solar calendar. This means that the Gregorian calendar adheres only to the yearly cycle of the sun, disregarding the monthly cycle of the moon, whereas the Hebrew calendar adheres to both simultaneously. This makes it a perennial calendar, meaning it DOES NOT "shift around". An example for a lunar calendar, disregarding the cycle of the sun, would be the Muslim calendar. Any two calendarial systems would obviously not have an exact match every single year, because, well... They count time differently.
This was a very interesting and fun video. I had always thought that Hanukkah was a big holiday, but it turns out that it is a minor holiday. On major holidays, they refrain from using things like electricity or driving cars, but that doesn't happen on Hanukkah. I also learned that oily foods such as latkes and donuts are eaten on this holiday.
You are wonderful but please note that candles are placed in the Chanukiah from right to left and then lit from left to right.
The video was a great teaching tool this year! I posted it and used it for my adult classes & for young students as well.
I had a student 40 years ago who told me that her family used ketchup as well. Hey, it makes sense to me!
BTW, I had hernia surgery this morning and your videos are cheering me up this afternoon (along with the fact that I don’t have to go to my synagogue board meeting tonight).
For tomorrow, happy Shushan Chanukah! 😁
Happy Hanukkah Mayin Bialik!
Mayim, I am so thrilled that you posted this. My elementary students are researching December Holidays (in an attempt to bring cultural awareness) and today is the start of Hannukah. We are watching your video and then they have to add to their research.
And - Happy Birthday!
I love you Mayim!!! You are my hero!!! Happy Chanukah!!!!
Thank you so much for these videos. I've always had a fascination with religions and I really love hearing from a believer how and why they love/celebrate/practice them. The world needs more videos like this!!
Happy Hanukkah! Thanks for sharing!
Im converting, and this will be my first Hanukkah. Grest video
I'm not Hebrew and I don't follow the religion of Judaism but one year, about the time other people started asking, "Are you ready for Christmas?" I started replying, "Are you ready for Hanukkah?"
One of my co-workers snarled, "NO! I'm not Jewish!"
Well, it seems to me that it would be enormously helpful if people would learn some things about other beliefs and practices than their parents'. So I keep spitting into the wind. Thanks for raising awareness.
P.S. The co-worker in question later apologized for her retort.
you are amazing!! Every post that you post about the religious or about Israel make me proud and it's very special to me!
You are a really special woman and thank you for that.
love you from Israel
היי אנחנו זוג וולוגרים חדשים מישראל וממש נשמח לכל עזרה ותמיכה אפשרית :) יש מצב שתראי את הוולוגים שלנו ותרשמי לערוץ שלנו אם את אוהבת? הם כולם באנגלית אבל לא נראה שיש לך בעיה עם זה :)
bit.ly/2AKticO
המון המון תודה וסופ"ש נעים
Really great vid Mayim! Love the enthusiasm. Those little net bags of chocolate coins have been a fixture of my festivities since I was a kid. Happy Hanukkah and Birthday to you. Such a lovely lady!
My neighbor is jewish and I’m a muslim. We’re good friends! One time in the major festivals I tried to get in contact with him and he was totally MIA but now that you explained it. Makes a lot more sense, no work and disconnecting from everything
My girlfriend is co president of Hillel at my college, always looking to break even and learn some things. Thanks!
Thank you Mayim for sharing your beautiful spirit! I have a lot of Jewish friends who tell me, "You should be Jewish! Oy! What a Rebbi (I know it's actually Rabbi but Rebbi, as it was explained to me, is a beloved Rabbi - what? you think I'm that meshugana(?)?)you would have made! (I was, at one time, on the path to becoming a minister). I love Jewish food, Yiddish, and gorgeous Semitic men! Semitic good looks is a true-ism to me! Our New Mexico Gay Men's Chorus is doing 3 Hanukkah songs for our winter holiday concert - Light the Legend, Burn and the Hanukkah Can Can. Mazel Mazel to you and yours!
כל הכבוד מים!!!!!
Rashi Rosenzweig היא מדהימה הא?
נהדרת!!
לגמרי
וואו סוף סוף עברית! והיא אכן אדירה! יפה, חכמה, מוכשרת ונחמדה, והיא משחקת טוב אני פשוט אוהבת אותה ♥
Dana Tov אני מסכים ב100%
I am grateful that Mayim shows respect for the Christian beliefs about Christmas. A lot of Hanukkah videos are quite disrespectful about _anything_ to do with Yeshua or Christianity.
So thank you, Mayim, for not speaking down to or down of Christianity. Our household celebrates _both_ Hanukkah and Christmas. I enjoy hearing different family traditions (like ketchup with latkes 😂) in different videos. While we’re applesauce fans, it’s always nice to learn about other family traditions. The best thing? This video shared without stereotypes or disrespectful dialogue. WTG, Mayim!!! 😄
This video is so informative and so much fun. ❤️ it.
you got the menorah part slightly wrong - the 7th candle in the temple's menorah was not used to light the others. the fire to light the menorah was taken from the altar at the temple's courtyard.
On your Birthday!? Cool!!
Great job. One addition: the Menorah with the 7 candles is a symbol dating back to the Temple in Jerusalem. It's depicted in Rome on Titus gate showing the destruction of the Temple by the Romans. The Hannukah "menorah" resembles it but like you said has 2 more candles = 9 total. Two similar Jewish symbols with different origins and meanings.
Thank you so much! I learned a lot! Happy Hanukkah!
As a Catholic who celebrates Christmas its always intriguing to learn about a new celebration. It was so interesting to learn about new facts and traditions that Jewish people share among them. One thing that I found interesting was the food they eat during this holiday like latkes and jelly donuts.
All my love to all my Jewish Brothers and Sisters! ❤️… you forgot “Happy Solstice” 🤗 😉😂
One new thing I learned about the Jewish tradition of Hanukkah is that, even though people do receive some gifts over a period of days, the holiday itself is based around many more meaningful concepts. For instance, Hanukkah is about finding light in darkness, fighting for what you believe in, and staying strong in the face of adversity. Hanukkah is also considered a "minor holiday" in the Jewish faith, which means people can still go about their normal lives and do things such as driving and working on Hanukkah. Some people think that Hannukkah is the "Jewish Christmas" since Christmas does fall around the same time, but the two holidays are completely unrelated.
and Tomorrow is Rohatsu :) A Buddhist holiday celebrating the Enlightenment of Lord Shakyamuni Butsu (Gautama Buddha), i hope you find Christmas as annoying as i do lol
Geoffrey Stewart I wouldn't mind being one of "those people" and just celebrate Christmas on just Christmas day. Just... I've three parties next week, out of town, all with white elephant games. Too much, bro! Too much. Enjoy your Buddhist holiday.
deekat3279 White Elephant is a gift giving game. All the participants bring a gift -most WE games have a criteria of what kind of gift to bring, like price range or theme. All the gifts are wrapped, have no tags on them, and are placed in a pile. All players blindly draw lots to see who goes first, all the way to who plays last. At a turn, a player grabs a gift from the pile and owns to see what they get. However, a player can also choose to take whatever gift opened by another player, keeping the gift for themself. An open gift can be taken three times. At the third time, the gift is "frozen", meaning it cannot be taken again. Once the last gift is open, the game ends, and everyone keeps what they opened or took. It is fun a fun game; it's just three in one weekend feels a bit much. Hope they don't mind I might just bring a wrapped bag of sweets.
You have such an easy-going and fun way of explaining things like this. It's so helpful! Thank you for teaching me the things I never got to learn from my Jewish grandma before she passed away when I was young. I seriously love you, Mayim! :)
חנוכה שמח!
Elad Noy איזו מדהימה היא, הא?
לגמרי :)
A Couple of Dreams חחח אני בטוח שאת מסוג האנשים שכל משפט שני שלהם זה ״אני אטאיסטית״ רדודה ביותר
Thank you Mayim for all your supportive videos (They really have helped me) Although you seem to think/want every person is/needs to be Jewish (I'm Christian for example) but learning about other peoples culture is fun. Thank You
Weinhold I know
HAPPY HANUKKAH!
Excellent video. I watched this with my 4 and 6 year old as part of our introduction to Hanukkah and I learned several things, too! Thanks so much!
Don’t forget HAPPY SATURNALIA!!!! #ItsASaturnaliaMiracle!!!
Ok i watched this video when it was first realeased 6 years ago, then i watched The Chosen and had more questions so I qued up this video again.
I Mayim and i love my the Jewish people and culture. God bless them and keep them, and give them your peace during these crazy times. i pray for the peace of Israel and holiness in America 🙏. 🫂🤗
happy birthday!
I know it's a long shot, but I am going to ask anyway.
If the fifth night falls on shabbat what do you do. Does it make a difference between orthodox vrs contemporary/liberal families?
You're adorable. Thank you for schooling me on Hanukkah. :-)
Hey Mayim - lots of respest for the factual accuracy and of course for presentation, which is light (pun) and informative for those who never knew these facts. Special respect for your cuntinuing, open and genuine expression of support for Israel, my sister
Finding light in the darkness is one of the closest ideas to Christianity 😄 Yeshua is the Light of the world... and as for that oil that lasted 8 days .. Yeshuas Father did that!! Love my Hebrew family were all one in Messiah🙌🏽 you’ll see💕💕💕💕💕💕😄
I love your Jewish holiday videos-- especially Purim!!!! Wondering if you could make one about the V'ahavta. Let me explain: My daughter is preparing for her Bat Mitzvah, and this is her Torah portion. Emi has some intellectual disabilities-- so this is a joy and a challenge. I'm so excited for her, and our Rabbi is awesome. But I'm also overwhelmed and searching for ways to keep her focus and attention. I love that this is her torah portion-- Love, and Rules... right up her alley. Anyway, today I thought, I wonder if Mayim Bialik has made a super fun and engaging video about the meaning of the V'ahavta! What do you think?
And because Christians "believe" Jesus is the son of God...hilarious.
I think it's time to make some latkes and challah after watching this. Curse you for making me waste a day on delicious food!
Also I never had a birthday party growing up because of Chanukah. My mom's family isn't Jewish but my dad's is. My grandmother on my dad's side took my sister and I to temple every Friday and sometimes Saturday. She even taught me how to read Hebrew. Anyways because my birthday is the 23rd of December, so awkward, my birthday tended to be used to celebrate all the holidays at once or nothing at all after my parents divorced.
On the plus side I'm teaching my mother in law about Chanukah because she was curious about it. She is so willing to absorb the knowledge and even requested a Torah for me to teach her some hebrew. I even helped her paint a table she uses during special occassions with Hebrew.
I hate Hanukkah as much as she hates Thanksgiving
L Antsen why??
Oha my gosh!!! I love u soook much!!! Great channikah 101!!;D
Jewish Mom here who really loved the video! But Mayim, didn't you load the menorah backwards? Isn't it correct to load from right to left, but LIGHT from left to right? Would love to have some feedback on this. 🕎💕
Love Bialik's education. Thank you so much for your selflessness. I learn so much from you. God bless you always.
We have guilt-chocolate coins
We also use the chocolate coins to play the game dreidel
We also have sufganiyot-jelly donuts
And my favourite potato pancakes-lakars
Even if I knew all this already this is a really cool and helpful video I know a lot of people can learn off of it
And a sukkah if the tent we make. The festival is actually called sukkot
Yummy😘😋
Since in Spain it's not common to hear about jewish festivities and traditions I found this video to be very instructive. Thank you Mayim!
My ex girlfriend was Jewish and her family did a lot of presents. So I gave her a Christmas present on Christmas and had her celebrate that with me and for the 8 days of Hanukkah I went over and did that with her and got presents and everything else. It was a fun experience for both of us
Chag Hanukkah Sameach Mayim. Thank you for being a light to the nations.
I used this video to teach my 7th and 8th grade class about Hanukkah! Thank you! I learned so much from this video and I know they did too! I also love how fun it was!
Mayim, thank you so much for this. Just the right length, great tone, and I didn't know anything about Hanukkah before this. I have Jewish friends I admire very much and it seems that learning a little about the faith is the least I can do if I want to be considered their friend. Also, what happened to Jeopardy?? You were great and I really don't care for the present host. What a disappointment. I hope it was a choice you made and not them...Glad you are having so much fun with your life. It is an inspiration. PS I worked as a research assistant in Behavioral Neurology for 7 years--Damasio's lab--in another life, hardy har.
From a Christian religious standpoint, Easter is a more important holiday than Christmas (just as the Fourth of July is more important than Washington's Birthday). But as Christianity spread to North European countries with cold dark winters, Christmas was inflated to cheer people up in the winter. Hanukkah is also not the most important religious holiday in the Jewish calendar, but was inflated to rival Christmas. As Jewish people became successful in celebrating their ethnic pride during Hanukkah and bar/t mitzvahs, this inspired certain other minority groups to create or inflate ethnic celebrations.
I showed this to all my classes as a k-5 music teacher and they absolutely loved learning about a new holiday! Happy Birthday btw
In every temple do boys and girls have to sit on opposite sides or is that just some temples? I was thinking about visiting my local one but when I read the seating arrangements it just seemed out dated. I just wanted to see if it's every or only a few.
Where did you get that 2 types of holidays thing from? There are many types. You have the Shalosh Regalim, the Yomim Noraim, the fasts, etc.