Hannukah, the Jewish festival of lights, begins tonight (Tuesday, Dec. 20) and lasts eight days, through the 28th.
The holiday traditionally begins on the even of the 25th day of the month of Kislev.
More than 2100 years ago, around 165 B.C., the Jewish Holy Land was ruled by the Syran-Greeks, who tried to convert the people of Israel. The emperor Antiochus made Judiasm punishable by death.
However, a group of Jews forced into the hills — led by rebels who became known as the Maccabees — defeated the Greeks in a battle and reclaimed the temple in Jerusalem. They found only a bit of olive oil to light their lamp (menorah), but it burned for eight days.
Today, Hannukah is celebrated by exchanging gifts, saying special prayers for light and goodness to triumph over darkness, and eating latkes fried in oil. There is no such thing as the Hannukah Armadillo or Hannukah Harry.