The time for lights

The Jewish calendar follows the lunar calendar, so this year, during a Jewish leap year, all our festivals fell a little later than usual. Like millions of people around the world, on December 25, Jewish people will celebrate a sacred festival. Unlike the majority of Christians who will be celebrating the birth of a Jewish boy in Bethlehem, Jews will be settling in for eight days and nights of Hanukkah parties and celebrations.

Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights, commemorates the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem following its defilement during the Greek occupation in the 2nd century BCE. When the Jewish people reclaimed the temple, they sought to rekindle the Menorah, the temple’s sacred lamp. However, they found only a single vial of consecrated oil – enough to last one day. Miraculously, the oil burnt for eight full days and nights, providing light until new oil could be prepared. In modern terms, that’s as if your phone on 1 per cent battery kept working for eight days and nights without any recharging. A true miracle!

Hanukkah is the time to light the menorah, over eight nights. Credit: fairfax

Hanukkah is generally considered one of Judaism’s minor festivals. The story of Hanukkah is not recorded in the Torah, and relative to other festivals, the preparations are quite modest. During Hanukkah, we don’t have any extra time in the synagogue, or days of extra ritual observance. However, despite its minor festival status, Hanukkah has established itself as a firm family favourite. Hanukkah is great fun for kids and adults alike: we eat fried foods like latkes, crispy potato pancakes that are kind of like hash browns, while kosher bakeries produce the most elaborate doughnuts, to remind us of the miracle of the oil.

Hanukkah also has a special game associated with it, called dreidel, in which children use a spinning top to win prizes and chocolate money. Many synagogues will have public menorah lightings every night of Hanukkah, and there will be plenty of celebrations and parties each night of the festival for parents and kids alike.

Lighting the menorah.

While presents are not historically part of Hanukkah (the introduction of presents into the celebration is the result of cross-cultural pollination due to its proximity to Christmastime), it’s a festival that still sparks great joy. Today, Hanukkah celebrates this miracle of endurance and faith. For eight nights, Jewish families light the menorah, adding a new candle each evening, symbolising the resilience of the Jewish spirit and the triumph of light over darkness. In such a tough year, of rising antisemitism in Australia and around the world, we certainly need the extra light more so than in other years.

Most of all, I look forward to celebrating Hanukkah because it means spending time with family and friends. Excitingly, this year, I’ll join millions of Australians at an equally sacred time for them, celebrating our heritage and traditions together. And of course, I’ll pray for more light in the world, just as the miracle of Hanukkah teaches.

Nomi Kaltmann is an Orthodox rabbi.