With the High Holidays behind us, we can look forward to celebrating the next Jewish holiday – Chanukah, the “Festival of Lights” – on Tuesday night, December 20th. I love seeing my house aglow with the lights from our menorahs and the smell of latkes frying in olive oil. What a lovely way for us to commemorate the miracle that happened almost two thousand years ago.
Like Purim, Chanukah is a joyous holiday and like Purim, it is a celebration of the Jewish peoples’ survival over religious persecution; they are considered Rabbinic holidays. Unlike Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot and Passover, it is not a Yom Tov in which work is not permitted.
The celebration dates to the time of the Hellenistic domination of the Middle East. Israel was, at the time, part of the Greek kingdom of Assyria. The Greeks, feeling threatened by the morals of Judaism, outlawed many practices of the Torah. They also entered and defiled the Holy Temple in Jerusalem.
A small army of rebels, lead by Judah Maccabee, succeeded in expelling the Assyrian armies and regained religious freedom for the Jews of Israel. When they reentered the Temple, they discovered that the oil for the Menorahs had been contaminated. They found only one small jar of pure, uncontaminated oil … just enough for one day. Miraculously, the flames burned for eight full days.
In commemoration of both the military victory and the miracle of the oil, this year the eight-day celebration of Chanukah begins on the evening of December 20th, which is the twenty-fifth day of the Jewish month of Kislev.
Please join us on the front lawn of the synagogue for the community Menorah lighting of the first candle and afterward in the Rotunda, where we will serve delicious Israeli jelly doughnuts called “sufganiyot.”
We will also celebrate with a Chanukah Latke Party and sing-along, with Rabbi Tuffs and Cantor Manny, on Wednesday, December 21st. Bring your Chanukah menorahs and we will supply the Dreidels for the Dreidel contest. Make your reservations early and don’t miss out on this fun-filled evening.
I look forward to seeing you all as we celebrate Chanukah together.
B’Shalom,
Sandra Edelboim
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