EVERETT — Maya Green’s father Ron helped her light Hanukkah’s first candle Friday.
The 8-year-old joined about 50 other people at Temple Beth Or in Everett to usher in the holiday by singing ancient prayers.
The flickering light from the candles reflected back, illuminating the faces of the congregation.
“I like the presents,” Maya said. “And lighting the menorah.”
Victoria Henry-LeMaster, 11, attended the service with her mom. Victoria lit a candle in the painted menorah she’d received last year as a gift from her grandmother.
“I like spending time with my family and sharing the spirit of the holiday,” Victoria said.
Another candle will be added each night until Friday, when eight lights will fill the Hanukkiah, the candelabra reserved for the holiday.
Victoria said she has a cabinet full of menorahs: one shaped like a dreidel, a four-sided top; a traditional menorah with eight arms; and one she made in first grade using wood and bolts to hold the candles.
“Hanukkah falls at the darkest time of the year, especially out here in the Pacific Northwest,” said Rabbi Jessica Kessler Marshall, who came to the Reform Jewish community in April. “We have this miracle of light. For us it really urges us to think about the light which we can bring into our world, and the people around us.”
The Hanukkah candle-lighting ritual symbolizes a story from ancient times when a band of Jewish freedom fighters reclaimed the temple in Jerusalem from marauding Syrians, said Rabbi Zevi Goldberg of Chabad of Snohomish County in Edmonds.
Around 2,200 years ago, the Syrians desecrated the Jewish sanctuary in Jerusalem, the story says. When the Maccabees, the rebel army, regained entry to the temple, there only was one jug of oil for the ritual lamp, Goldberg said.
“They only had oil to last one day,” he said. “The miracle was that this one jug lasted eight days.”
That was long enough to replenish the supply.
“That’s why it’s called a holiday of lights, a holiday of freedom, a holiday of goodness,” Goldberg said. “Good over evil, righteous over wicked, light over darkness.”
Traditions around the holiday include foods cooked in oil, including potato pancakes, often called latkes, and sufganiot, Israeli-style jelly-filled doughnuts.
Children often play a game using the dreidel. Each side has a different Hebrew letter and the game is dictated by which side lands up.
“It’s a great way to learn the Aleph-Bet,” the Hebrew alphabet, Victoria said.
The dreidel dates from Roman times, Goldberg said. Jews were prohibited from studying the Torah, the first five books of the Bible. Students persisted in their studies and would start playing the game when guards checked.
Traditionally, parents gave children Hanukkah gelt, or money. That tradition has evolved and some people today exchange gifts, Marshall said.
Christmas can dominate this time of year, she said. Jews didn’t want their children to feel left out, so Hanukkah took on a newer tradition.
With so many people suffering this year due to continuing economic struggles, some people at Temple Beth Or decided to give to those in need.
“Each of the nights, instead of giving gifts, they think about different charities,” she said. Then, they find ways to make meaningful contributions.
The holiday really is about trying to repair the world, she said.
“It’s about celebrating the miracle of oil. It’s about family. It’s about thinking about ways we can bring light into our world during dark times,” she said.
Jackson Holtz: 425-339-3437, jholtz@heraldnet.com.
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