Living in Israel, which is a Jewish State, I have learned about many traditions that the Israeli people participate in. Many of these are similar to the Jewish traditions I celebrate at home; however, some are celebrated slightly differently. For example, at home I celebrate Hanukkah every year with my extended family. Hanukkah is an eight-night festival of lights celebrated in the Jewish religion. We usually hold parties, where we play dreidel (a four sided spinning top with four different letters in Hebrew that tell you how much money or how many chocolate pieces you have won), eat latkes (fried potato pancakes), light the menorah (a lamp that holds nine spots for candles, one for each night of Hanukkah and one we use to light the others), and open presents. In Israel, I celebrated Hanukkah in a different way. Here they eat a lot of sufganiyot, which are doughnuts filled with jelly, chocolate, or vanilla. Children do not usually get presents but simply get money. I did not have a single latke, which I was a bit disappointed about, but all the delicious doughnuts made up for it. Hanukkah did not seem as big a holiday here as it is with my family. Public transportation remained open, which it does not for more religious holidays in Israel.
