Hanukkah celebrations bring light into a dark year

Hanukkah is a Jewish eight-day celebration, sometimes known as the festival of lights. It is celebrated with nightly Menorah lighting, special prayers, and fried foods. It commemorates the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem during the Maccabean Revolt and is observed with the lighting of a nine-branched candelabrum each night.

Lynda Mogilner (right) with her mother, Sara Hoff, with their generational Menorah. (Photo by Christine Such/Sun Day)

Lynda Mogilner’s menorah holds a very personal meaning. The brass menorah has been used in the celebration of Hanukkah in her family for over 100 years.

Mogilner said, “I got the menorah as a gift passed down from my Grandmother, Rose Shub when I became engaged to my husband Alan. We’ve been married 54 years.”

When did her grandmother get it?

“I think she got it when she got engaged. She came to the United States to live with relatives when she was 16. She had absolutely nothing. This Menorah has been used by family every year,” she said.

When the First Temple was built in Jerusalem, a large Menorah was built. It was lit in the Temple every evening and cleaned it every morning, replacing the wicks and putting fresh olive oil into the cups. The light of the Menorah symbolizes an eternal flame. Menorah is a symbol of the nation of Israel and its mission to be “a light unto the nations” (Isaiah 42:6).

“When my mom gave me the Menorah, she gave me a part of my grandmother – a part of me. She told me that my grandmother Rose wanted me to have it. It’s been in our family for more than 100-years,” she said.

For the most part, the December holiday is a celebration among family and friends. Hanukkah has always been a home-centered celebration, typically enjoyed with lots of fried foods, like potato latkes and jelly doughnuts.

Jelly doughnuts are a traditional Hanukkah treat.

Mogilner said, “We special ordered jelly doughnuts from Jarosch’s bakery. My neighbor picked them up for us. We also have latkes.”

Why are fried foods eaten for Hanukkah?

“Fried foods are an important part of the traditional Hanukkah dinner because they represent the small amount of oil that miraculously burned for 8 days instead of just one when the Jews rededicated the Temple after overcoming oppression,” Mogilner said.

The family Hannukah traditions may look a little different this year. Public health officials have continued to urge families to refrain from gathering with relatives outside of their households. Mogilner and the Sun City group Shalom have hosted services virtually for the eight-day “festival of lights” that began at sundown on Thursday, December 10. The Shalom Group offers fun and fellowship for members of the Sun City Jewish community.

Mogilner said, “We have activities to go along with our Zoom lighting. We watched together The Making of Fiddler on the Roof, and the Adam Sandler movie, Eight Crazy Nights. My mother is the matriarch of the group and everyone enjoys her participation. She turned 96 this year on November 29.”

Hanukkah lights the darkness to a brighter future.

Mogilner said, “When we light the candle, I think how people all over the world are doing the same thing. They are all lighting the candle in hope of bringing light into the darkness. This year the thought of lighting the candle with so many people is inspirational.”

Jimmy Carter was the first president to participate in a menorah lighting ceremony in 1979. President George W. Bush became the first President to light also a 100-year-old menorah in the White House residence on December 10, 2001.

Mogilner said, “Jewish tradition teaches that the story of the Hanukkah miracle of light over darkness, and this year we need that light more than ever.”

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