Here is a brief explanation of a Chanuka tradition. Eating Cheese and oil on chanuka: First, foods cooked in oil commemorate one of the Chanuka miracles, the miracle of the Chanukah oil; Second, cheese recalls the brave heroine Yehudit (Judith), who (in 164 BCE) helped save the Jews of Bethulia by slaying the vicious Greek general Holofernes with the help of a little cheese. Holofernes had brought the Jews of Bethulia to the brink of death by seizing the town’s only spring of water. The people grew desperate as they began to weaken from thirst. Then the beautiful Yehudit stepped forward and asked to see Holofernes.Taken by Yehudit's loveliness and charm, Holofernes invited her to an al fresco banquetá deux. Yehudit declined to eat his food—it wasn’t kosher, after all—but she had brought her own, and a large wineskin to share with him. Charmingly, she plied him with salty cheeses; then, as he grew more and more thirsty, she offered him great quantities of wine to slake his thirst. When Holofernes fell into a drunken stupor, Yehudit borrowed her host’s sword and cut off his head. She calmly returned with it to Bethulia, where the stunned townspeople hung their oppressor’s head on the wall.When Holofernes’ soldiers found his body, they were so demoralized that they fled in panic. The town of Bethulia was saved, along with the rest of Israel. For many generations, Jews have celebrated Chanukah by eating cheese products and foods fried in oil. Here in Israel, we eat jelly donuts and pizza during Chanuka. So, make some donuts and eat some pizzas this Chanukah to keep the tradition intact—and as you eat them, tell the story of the great Jewish heroine who saved her people with a great deal of courage, a borrowed sword—and a little cheese! Read the full Chanukah story at http://ift.tt/1A7u6lB

Here is a brief explanation of a Chanuka tradition. Eating Cheese and oil on chanuka: First, foods cooked in oil commemorate one of the Chanuka miracles, the miracle of the Chanukah oil; Second, cheese recalls the brave heroine Yehudit (Judith), who (in 164 BCE) helped save the Jews of Bethulia by slaying the vicious Greek general Holofernes with the help of a little cheese. Holofernes had brought the Jews of Bethulia to the brink of death by seizing the town’s only spring of water. The people grew desperate as they began to weaken from thirst. Then the beautiful Yehudit stepped forward and asked to see Holofernes.Taken by Yehudit's loveliness and charm, Holofernes invited her to an al fresco banquetá deux. Yehudit declined to eat his food—it wasn’t kosher, after all—but she had brought her own, and a large wineskin to share with him. Charmingly, she plied him with salty cheeses; then, as he grew more and more thirsty, she offered him great quantities of wine to slake his thirst. When Holofernes fell into a drunken stupor, Yehudit borrowed her host’s sword and cut off his head. She calmly returned with it to Bethulia, where the stunned townspeople hung their oppressor’s head on the wall.When Holofernes’ soldiers found his body, they were so demoralized that they fled in panic. The town of Bethulia was saved, along with the rest of Israel. For many generations, Jews have celebrated Chanukah by eating cheese products and foods fried in oil. Here in Israel, we eat jelly donuts and pizza during Chanuka. So, make some donuts and eat some pizzas this Chanukah to keep the tradition intact—and as you eat them, tell the story of the great Jewish heroine who saved her people with a great deal of courage, a borrowed sword—and a little cheese! Read the full Chanukah story at http://ift.tt/1A7u6lB via DoubleTapper http://ift.tt/1wPe9TW