Judaism is one of the widespread religions followed throughout the world. The festivals observed by Jewish are followed according to the Hebrew calendar.
Passover and Hanukkah are the two most famous festivals celebrated throughout the world. These two festivals are observed for different duration of days.
Hanukkah vs Passover
The difference between Hanukkah and Passover is their importance and origin. Both the Jewish festivals are observed in different months and different duration. The origin of these festivals has different motives and stories.
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Hanukkah is celebrated for eight conservative days. It is observed on the 25th day of Kislev, a month of the Hebrew calendar. In Hanukkah, nine candles are lit in the nine branches of a candelabra for consecutive days.
Passover is celebrated on the 15th day of Nisan. On contrary to Hebrew Bible, Jews settle in old Egypt when Jacob’s son Joseph founded one of the 12 Israelian tribes.
The Passover meal is popularly known as the seder.
Comparison Table
| Parameter of comparison | Hanukkah | Passover |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Hanukkah is a Jewish festival to represent the joy of supervision over Jerusalem. | Passover is a major Jewish festival to represent freedom from Egyptian slavery. |
| Reason | Hanukkah represents the joy when Maccabean Jews attained the supervision of Jerusalem. | Jews settle in old Egypt when Jacob’s son Joseph founded one of the 12 Israelian tribes. |
| Occurrence | Hanukkah is celebrated on the 25th day of Kislev. | Passover is observed on the 15th day of Nisan. |
| Celebration days | Hanukkah is celebrated for 8 consecutive days. | Passover is celebrated for 7 consecutive days. |
| Major/Minor festival | Hanukkah is a minor Jewish festival. | Passover is one of the major Jewish festivals. |
What is Hanukkah?
Hanukkah is one of the minor festivals celebrated by Jews. The word “Hanukkah” means “to dedicate” and is celebrated because Maccabean Jews attained the supervision of Jerusalem.
According to the Hebrew calendar, Hanukkah is observed from the 25th day of Kislev. In the Gregorian calendar, Kislev may lie from mid-November to mid-December.
Hanukkah is celebrated by lighting nine candles in the nine branches of a candelabra. This type of candelabra is popularly known as a menorah or Hanukkiah.
A single candle branch is commonly positioned either above or below the others. This extraordinary candle is known as shammash and is used to lighten up the remaining eight candles.
Every night after Kislev, a candle is lighted beside shammash until all the eight candles are lighted. Hanukkah has gained crucial cultural importance in North America and areas containing secular Jews.
What is Passover?
Passover is one of the prominent Jewish festivals observed throughout the world. It is celebrated because Israelites escaped from slavery in Egypt.
According to the Hebrew calendar, Passover is celebrated on the 15th day of Nisan. The first month of Aviv or spring is Nisan.
On contrary to the Hebrew Bible, Jews settle in old Egypt when Jacob’s son Joseph founded one of the 12 Israelian tribes.
Joseph migrated with his family because of a drastic famine from Canaan, their homeland.
As mentioned in the Holy Book of Exodus, God has ordered the Jews Prophet to advise all the Israelites to signify the lamb’s blood on their doors.
This will save them from the Angel of Death as the angel will leave them and they will remain untouched. The hyssop was assigned to Mark the slaughtered sheep’s blood on the doors and boundaries.
This will guarantee that the devil powers will not arrive at the house.
The dead children were saved by the pharaoh’s daughter and were recognized in an Egyptian royal family. The pharaoh’s daughter was provided with the name ” Moses” which means one who is pulled out.
When Jacob attained his adulthood, Moses came to know about Jacob’s genuine identity and the Egyptian’s harsh treatment of his companion Hebrews.
He killed an Egyptian master and departed to the Sinai Peninsula. There he lived as a modest shepherd for the remaining 40 years.
According to the Hebrew Bible, Moses attains an announcement from their God to move again to Egypt and exempt his kin from enslavement.
Along with Jacob’s brother, Aaron, Moses moved towards the reigning Pharaoh. This reigning Pharaoh is unnamed in the biblical edition of the story.
Main Difference between Hanukkah and Passover
- Hanukkah is observed as a minor festival of Jews whereas Passover is observed as a major festival.
- Hanukkah is celebrated on the 25th day of Kislev. Also, Passover is observed on the 15th day of Nisan.
- In Passover, hyssop was assigned to Mark the slaughtered sheep’s blood on the doors and boundaries. While Hanukkah is observed with a lightning candle.
- Passover is observed with a seder, the Passover meal. While in Hanukkah, a candle is lighted beside shammash until all the eight candles are lighted.
- One of the largely significant Passover rituals for Jewish is eliminating all chametz from their houses. Chametz is basically leavened food products.
- https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=6JAeAAAAIAAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PR13&dq=jewish+passover&ots=qS3xNQKP0M&sig=rEkyqnhcwh2Fk4e72UVeOA0I2ZQ
- https://www.jstor.org/stable/43042325
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Chara Yadav holds MBA in Finance. Her goal is to simplify finance-related topics. She has worked in finance for about 25 years. She has held multiple finance and banking classes for business schools and communities. Read more at her bio page.
