What is Hanukkahs traditional decoration?
Channukah, as it is a festival of lights, often is rife with decorations which accentuate light, but Jewish holidays are secondarily about the public display of pure decoration. The public presence of the Channukiah (the candles and candelabrum lit each night) is for the sake of publicizing the miracle, not simply advertizing. Similarly, the dreidel, the small spinning top often associated with the holiday and adorning many holiday cards, is primarily part of the celebration of the day and only secondarily an adornment. In my house, we have nothing which he “put up” to decorate for the holiday — we cook ceremonial or symbolic foods, we play the games or give the gifts which are part of the celebration, but these are for the commemoration via ritual, not decoration. Changes in liturgy and such are also the focus of the days, rather than displays. The use of streamers, glitter or posters is a consumerization of religious ritual. A home “decorated” for the holiday is one with channukiot
