Hanukkah is a Jewish holiday that lasts eight days, usually in November or December. Families light candles on a special stand, one more each night, and there is food, song, and play. The name means something like “dedication”: it remembers a time when a temple in Jerusalem was taken back and dedicated again. You may also see Chanukah; that is the same festival, only the Hebrew is spelled out differently in English. Though actually, it is not “Jewish Christmas.” It just often falls near Christmas on the calendar, so English-speaking shops talk about both at once. For Jewish families it is its own festival, with its own story. It is a proper name, so it takes a capital letter.