Egyptian newspaper Youm7 has an explainer article about Chanukah, which is coming up at the end of November this year.
It starts off saying “According to Jewish accounts and allegations, the reason for celebrating this holiday is to commemorate the inauguration of the Second Temple in occupied Jerusalem in 164 BC.”
Yes, they are saying that Jerusalem was “occupied” by the Hashmoneans. And that the idea that there was a Second Temple is merely “alleged.”
Later on, we learn that there is a separate obligation of eating “fried cakes” for adults and children:
It is strange that there is a particular limit for eating cakes. During the 8 days of the Festival of Lights an adult eats 3-4 pieces of fried cakes in oil, while children eat 6-8 of them. During Hanukkah, families also eat French fries.
I hope that “fried cakes” means small latkes, because I don’t think kids would feel too good after eating eight sufganiyot every night.
Here was the lead photo for the story, which they captioned “Jewish ritual.”
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