Hanukkah starts Dec 10: Five Things

The Jewish holiday of Hanukkah begins later this week, on Dec 10. I'm married into a Jewish family and have had many Jewish friends since teenage years, so even though I'm not Jewish myself I've taken many opportunities to learn a fair bit about Jewish traditions. Among the things I've learned is that we non-Jews tend to have a lot of misunderstandings about Hanukkah. For example, it's not "Jewish Christmas". If you thought maybe it was consider these quick Five Things to help you understand Hanukkah better:

1.

What is Hanukkah?
Hanukkah is the Jewish Festival of Lights. It celebrates the restoration of their Second Temple in Jerusalem in the year 165 B.C.E. after it had been captured and desecrated by invaders for several years. The "of Lights" part comes in because to reconsecrate the temple after liberating it, the Jews had to relight the Eternal Flame. There was only enough oil in the temple to burn for one day, and the next supply would take eight days to arrive. Then a miracle occurred: that one day's supply of oil burned all eight days. The temple was restored.

2.

What's the significance of Hanukkah?
The name "Hanukkah" comes from Hebrew word for dedication. It celebrates the rededication of their temple after recapturing it from invaders. It also celebrates the dedication of the Jews who persevered for years under occupation and the fighters who were victorious against long odds in throwing off the yoke of oppression.

3.

I see it written Hanukkah, Chanukah, Hannuka, etc., what's the deal?
There are several spellings floating around in English. That's typical when a word is translated from a language with a different alphabet. In the original Hebrew it's spelled חנוכה. The pronunciation is like "Ha new kah" — not "Cha nuke uh". Some of the confusion comes from the way some translations use the leading Ch to indicate that the Hebrew letter ח has a strongly aspirated H sound. (When you hear people making fun of spoken Hebrew by clearing their throats while talking... that's what it is.)

4.

How do Jews celebrate Hanukkah?
Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights, is an eight day long celebration corresponding to the miracle of the oil that helped reconsecrate the temple. Jews celebrate by eating foods fried in oil, such as latkes (potato pancakes) and jelly doughnuts. One of the most visible forms of celebration is the lighting of a special menorah (candelabra) called the hanukkiya. It has 8 candles, one for each day of the miracle, plus a ninth candle used as the ceremonial lighter.

5.

Is Hanukkah like Christmas?
Hanukkah sometimes gets thought of as "Jewish Christmas" because it falls on the calendar near Christmas. The two holidays are very different, though. Christmas is Christians' celebration of the birth of their savior and is one of their most sacred holidays. Hanukkah is actually a minor holy celebration in Jewish tradition... though in the 20th century it's gotten played up a lot because of its proximity on the calendar to Christmas. One of the ways it has been expanded is the adoption of gift-giving, like Christmas. Historically, gifts were given to children during Hanukkah but they were very small and were done in a tradition reflecting the hardships of living under oppression. I could go into greater detail on that... but I'll save it for part of the next Five Things!

Who gets the vaccine first?

Vaccines for the Coronavirus are starting to roll out. The UK's health regulator approved the Pfizer vaccine for general use last week Wednesday (see, e.g., BBC News article 2 Dec 2020). The first 800,000 doses have already been shipped with millions more on the way in coming weeks. Similar progress is playing out in other countries, or will be soon. Vaccinating everyone will take time, though— months, really— so governments are having to decide who's first in line, who's second, etc.

The UK has prioritized vaccinating residents in elder care homes and the staff who care for them. I understand the value in vaccinating these groups. The virus has raged through these congregate living facilities, where residents are generally in weak health to start with and have limited ability to isolate themselves from people who might infect them. But should they be the first group? I think I'd prioritize front-line health care workers first and maybe seniors in care homes second. The UK does prioritize front-line health workers, but only in group 2 and along with everyone 80+. This BBC News article has a great chart illustrating the priorities (article updated 2 Dec 2020).

Here in the US our CDC made recommendations last week on who should get the vaccine first. Per this article in the NY Times (updated 4 Dec 2020) they place all 22 million health care workers in the first group along with the nation's 3 million seniors living in care homes. It's a nice plan to prioritize all health care workers... but there won't be enough doses at first. States will have to do decide whom to prioritize. And yes, states will decide because under our national inaction plan the CDC is only offering recommendations.

Okay, so once there are adequate doses for the initial 1-2 groups, who's next in line? The UK's plan goes largely by descending age category: 80+, then 75+, 70+, 65+, 55+, and 50+, with some allowance made for younger people with serious preexisting illness.

I've seen a variety of ideas proposed for who should get priority. One is to prioritize 18-25 year olds because they're superspreaders. That way they can keep hanging out, going to bars and clubs, etc., and stop getting everyone else sick. Another idea I've seen is to vaccinate middle-age adults first. The idea is the middle-aged adults are largely employed, which is a risk factor; are old enough that they tend to have one or more health risk factors; and many also have young children, who themselves are a risk factor. (Kids tend not to get serious symptoms but when they're infected they spread it just like everyone else.) Of course, at some point not too long after Day One of availability, money is going to be a huge factor in who gets the vaccine.