Sometime every December, members of the Jewish faith celebrate the festival of Hanukkah.

Hanukkah is one of the best known Jewish holidays and is associated with various popular

symbols and objects.

However, most people don't know the true story behind why the holiday exists or the background behind the many items associated with it.

Learn more about the celebration of Hanukkah, its history, and how it's celebrated, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Before I get into the history of Hanukkah, I should address one basic thing about it that you might have noticed, how it is spelled.

There are at least 20 different spellings of the word that are used, including some starting with an H and some

starting with a C some that use 1 K and some that use 2 K's and some that put an H at the

end and some that don't and also some that use two ends instead of one. The problem stands from the

translation from Hebrew to English. The pronunciation of the word in

Hebrew is Haunukah and I apologize for my pronunciation to any Hebrew speakers.

The first letter of the word in Hebrew is the letter Chet, which doesn't easily translate

into English as with other Hebrew letters. The two most popular spellings have been

H-A-N-U-K-K-A-H and C-H-A-N-U-K-H. However over the last several years the spelling with the H has become the

preferred version of many rabbis and the one that has been predominantly

used. The word Hanukkah simply translates to dedication.

So with that, what is the background of this festival and why is it still celebrated today?

The story starts with Alexander the Great.

Well, actually I suppose we could start it almost anywhere, but

Alexander the Great is as good a place as any and where most of the histories usually

begin.

As you know from previous episodes,

Alexander the Great conquered the Persian Empire,

...