Each year, starting on the 25th of the Jewish month of Kislev, Jews celebrate Hanukkah, often called the Festival of Lights. This year, Hanukkah begins at nightfall on December 25 and ends at nightfall on January 2 on the secular calendar.
“Hanukkah is an eight-day celebration that celebrates the rededication of the temple in Israel -- the Greeks had desecrated it," said Mara Cohen Ioaniddes, a local speaker on Jewish Studies and more.
Traditionally, she said, Hanukkah is celebrated by lighting a hanukkiah, a menorah that has nine candlesticks.
“Eight for one for each day, and there’s a ninth one that is, in English, is called the leader candle. And so each night of Hanukkah, one lights another candle. So the first night you start with one candle and the leader candle and then two candles, then three candles and the leader candle and so forth until you get to the eighth day when the whole thing is lit up.”
The eight candles represent eight days that holy oil, which was supposed to last only one day, kept a menorah in the newly-reclaimed Holy Temple in Jerusalem, in 2nd Century BCE, burning.
But Cohen Ioannides said Hanukkah is a minor holiday compared to high Jewish holidays.
“The two holiest Jewish holidays are Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, which are in the fall," she said, "and Rosh Hashanah is the New Year and Yom Kippur is 10 days later. And it’s the Day of Atonement, and it’s during that time that Jews contemplate what they have done and who they are and how they can be better people.”
In the spring, Jews celebrate another major holiday, Passover, which is the celebration of the Exodus of Egypt.
“That’s when we have Seder, and it’s a home celebration. It’s centered about the home," she said, "and it’s a meal. It’s a whole meal that recreates the exodus and recreates the sacrifices at the temple.”
Cohen Ioannides said those holidays are far more important to her. But she still loves Hannukah and its traditions.
One Hanukkah tradition is the game of dreidel. A dreidel is a top with four sides. Players spin it to try to win prizes like gelt — pennies or chocolate coins.
“The tradition of dreidel comes from a time when Jews were forbidden to study, and so what they would do is they would have ethe dreidel on the table, and if a soldier came in while they were studying, they would hide their books and play the dreidel. And that’s where the tradition comes from," she said. "And there are four letters on it, which say, 'Nes gadol haya sham, a great miracle happened there.' Now, in Israel, interestingly, it's different. The fourth letter is different so that it translates as 'a great miracle happened here.' "
Hanukkah is also traditionally celebrated by eating fried food, such as latkes, that represents the oil in the temple.
“Latkes are potato pancakes, and that’s eastern European," said Cohen Ioannides. "Israelis eat sufganiyot, which are doughnuts that are filled with jelly, so you’ll see those a lot. Other cultures eat other fried food.”
Gifts are also often given during Hanukkah. Cohen Ioannides said that tradition started because of another holiday celebrated around the same time.
“When Jews came to America and Christmas became so commercialized, American Jews started to feel bad for their children and so started to give gifts," she said.
While she loves the lights that go up around Christmas, and she understands why Christians celebrate the holiday in such a big way, she wishes the important Jewish holidays weren’t ignored.
She’s eager to share her Jewish culture with anyone who’s willing to listen and to point out that the United States is made up of numerous religions.
“We need to learn to appreciate each other’s religious and cultural differences and honor them, understand them, hopefully have the opportunity to participate, you know, to share those moments, to learn about them and to understand that, just because one belongs to the majority, doesn’t mean that’s how everybody does it,” she said.
One way Temple Israel, located in Rogersville, shares their culture with others is through an event it hosts each November called ArtFest. It goes back many years and is an offshoot of Deli Day. The public can purchase a variety of items, including traditional Jewish pastries.
"ArtFest is, of course, fundamentally, an opportunity for us to have a little bit of a fundraiser and sell our wares and have vendors in and have food," said Sam Radwine, rabbi at Temple Israel, "but it really, in a larger sense, it's a way for us to open our doors and invite the larger community in and show us who we are and get to interact with each other on a more intimate basis."
Rabbi Radwine invites anyone to come into the temple during ArtFest and listen as he talks about the Jewish faith and then opens it up for questions.
Judith Peavey, a member of Temple Israel’s Sisterhood, the synagogue’s women’s group, said that’s one important reason for hosting the event.
"To know that there's a diverse population here in Springfield, that, you know, we're a minority but we're here, we're here to stay and we have a lot to offer," she said.
