30 Hanukkah Trivia Questions and Answers for Adults

1. Unlike major Jewish festivals, what everyday activity is generally permitted during Hanukkah, except when it overlaps Shabbat?

2. Antiochus IV ruled which Hellenistic empire?

3. To which Greek god did Antiochus IV set up an altar inside the Jerusalem Temple?

4. Which first-century historian referred to Hanukkah as the Festival of Lights?

5. In which village did Mattathias and his family start the resistance?

6. How many sons did Mattathias have, including Judah?

7. Judah's nickname Maccabee is often understood to come from a Hebrew word for which tool?

8. The uprising led by Judah's family against Seleucid rule is known as what?

9. Which of Judah's brothers later became high priest and led the movement after him?

10. The Maccabees' family went on to found which ruling dynasty?

11. In roughly which century BCE was the Temple in Jerusalem rededicated?

12. Which Temple was rededicated in the events that Hanukkah celebrates?

13. Which books, not part of the Hebrew Bible, tell the story of the Maccabean revolt?

14. The story of one jar of oil lasting eight days is recorded in which text?

15. According to the Talmud, the one usable jar of oil still carried the seal of whom?

16. Second Maccabees says the first eight-day celebration was held in the manner of which festival?

17. The four German letters on an early spinning-top game gave instructions equivalent to which modern Hanukkah game?

18. Hanukkah begins on the 25th day of which Hebrew month?

19. On which day of Kislev does Hanukkah begin?

20. Which U.S. president took part in the first National Menorah lighting in 1979?

21. How many branches did the menorah in the ancient Temple have?

22. What does the word shamash literally mean?

23. How many blessings are recited when lighting on the first night of Hanukkah?

24. Candles are placed from right to left. Which candle is lit first after the shamash?

25. By tradition, the Hanukkah lights should burn for at least how long after nightfall?

26. On the Friday of Hanukkah, when is the menorah lit compared with the Sabbath candles?

27. Placing the menorah where passersby can see it fulfills which principle?

28. On the dreidels used in Israel, one letter is swapped so the phrase says the miracle happened where?

29. Sephardic families often fry which small treats for Hanukkah instead of potato latkes?

30. In December 1993, astronaut Jeffrey Hoffman spun a dreidel aboard which spacecraft?