Tonight marks the first night of Hanukkah and my six year-old daughter said she wants Santa to bring her a present to celebrate. I’ve got a lot of explaining to do. Let’s start with seven surprising things everyone should know about Hanukkah.

+ Slate’s Ben Blatt does the math and finds that the game of Dreidel is way too slow.

+ Hanukkah is a minor holiday and most of its modern traditions (such as gift giving and trying to have a positive attitude for a few minutes) are borrowed from Christianity. But are we really ready for the Menorah Tree?