Last night in Israel we celebrated the first night of Hanukkah: The festival of lights, or the festival of the dedication of the temple.

From dreidels to doughnuts, host Marcela Sulak takes us through the holiday’s customs and traditions, and then lets historian Titus Flavius Josephus, born Yosef ben Matityahu, tell the story in his own words.

In Hanukkah’s spirit of ‘light,’ Marcela reads a poem by Admiel Kosman, ‘A Small Pillar of Fire,’ translated specifically for this podcast by Lisa Katz.

Texts:

Antiquities of the Jews by Flavius Josephus. Loeb Classical Library (Harvard Press).

“Pillar of Fire” by Admiel Kosman, translated by Lisa Katz. From הגענו לאלוהים, Kibbutz Hameuchad, 1998.

Traditional Hanukkah songs used in the show:

Sevivon, Sov, Sov, Sov
Kad Katan
HaNerot Halalu
Banu Khoshech Legaresh