Why do Jews eat fried foods during Chanukah?
Most of us are familiar with the miracle of the oil— that one day’s supply of oil lasted for eight days. And we know this is the origin of the mitzvah to light the menorah for eight days. It is also the reason why we have the custom of eating foods cooked in oil. There are deeper connections between olive oil and Chanukah. Mystically, both the menorah and the oil used to light it are associated with Chochmah, wisdom. The war between the Greeks and the Jews was also a war over whose wisdom would endure. The Greeks wanted everyone under their rule to think and study exactly as they did. They were violently opposed to the idea of G‑dly wisdom, and so forbade the study of Torah. Also, the word shemen, Hebrew for oil, contains the same letters as shemoneh, eight, the number of days that the miracle of the oil lasted. What is the connection between dairy foods and Chanukah? Yehudis was a young woman who lived in Bethulia, in the land of Judea, at the time of the war against the Greeks. She c
