OC Jewish Community Celebrates Hanukkah – a Festival of Lights

Jewish residents in Orange County and across the globe lit up a menorah last night to kick off the first of eight nights of this year’s Hanukkah celebrations.

The eight nights of Hanukkah – a festival of lights – commemorates the story of the Maccabees who stood up against the Greek empire’s oppression and their ban on Judaism in Jerusalem thousands of years ago. 

When the Jewish people defeated the Greek army, they took back the Second Temple of Jerusalem and had only enough oil to light a candle for one night but the candle miraculously burned for eight, according to the Talmud – one of Judaism’s central texts.

This year’s celebration is starting two months after Hamas launched an attack on Oct. 7 that killed over 1,000 Israelis and took hundreds hostage and then Israeli retaliatory airstrikes killed over 17,000 Palestinians and displaced 1.8 million people in Gaza.

It also comes as local leaders report a sharp spike in hate crimes locally against the Jewish Community, the Arab and Palestinian community and the Muslim community.

Still, local rabbis like David Eliezrie say the rise in hate and the violence abroad should not deter people from celebrating Hanukkah like OC’s Jewish community does every year.

“The best response is to light more Hanukkah menorahs. We have to have a greater sense of pride because if people want to come to intimidate us with hatred, I think the best response is to stand up with pride and stand up with dignity,” he said in a phone interview.

Lighting the Menorah: A Symbol of Religious Freedom

A menorah is a multi-branched candle holder which is lit every night during Hanukkah to memorialize the miracle. There is a large free standing menorah outside Eliezrie’s synagogue.

“We light it every night and it burns usually for a good couple of hours,” Eliezrie said. “You light one candle one night, the second night you light two candles until you light eight candles which brings the idea of bringing more light to the world.”

Eliezrie has been a rabbi in North OC for about 40 years at Chabad Beth Meir HaCohen or the North County Chabad Center which started in Anaheim but is now located in Yorba Linda.

He spent about five years as a kid in Israel and said that his friend’s son is still kidnapped in Gaza.

For Eliezrie, Hanukkah represents the idea of freedom and the freedom of religion the Maccabees fought for and the lighting of the menorah symbolizes that.

“We’re making a statement to the world that a great miracle happened thousands of years ago. That miracle is a miracle of religious freedom and we want that miracle to be treasured,” he said.

Celebrating Hanukkah in OC

The North Chabad center isn’ the only congregation in OC celebrating Hanukkah these next couple of days.

In Santa Ana, Temple Beth Sholom serves a congregation of close to 300 families with Sharon Sobel as their Rabbi.

Like Eliezrie, Sobel said with everything going on it’s important the synagogue and the community celebrate like they usually would and also highlight the importance of family, relaxation and reflection during a difficult time.

“It’s important for us to show our community that we stay strong,” she said. “We’re celebrating it the same as we always do. We like to give our families an opportunity to come together and have fun.”

Sobel said that Hanukkah is a minor holiday on the Jewish calendar but still a time for celebration with family.

She said during this time people will eat fried foods like Latkes – a potato pancake – to represent the oil that kept the candle lit, sing songs and play games like Dreidel, Dreidel.

“It’s really a time to get together with family, friends and community to celebrate,” Sobel said, adding that it’s also a time people gave back to others in need.

She also said that the message of Hanukkah was about religious freedom.

“It’s about spreading light by your actions and by your words, and by your deeds,” Sobel said. “I believe if each of us does our part this world will become so much brighter.”

A Time For Family & Fun

Nancy Myers, the rabbi at Temple Beth Devid in Westminster, said in a phone interview that while the holiday is minor it gets a lot of emphasis because of the time of year it’s celebrated.

She adds that the synagogue does a lot to celebrate including organizing a pre-Hanukkah carnival that brings people young and old together.

“We have games and fun activities for kids. I’m always amazed by how many of our adults and senior citizens come as well because we have Hanukkah boutiques – they can shop to buy gifts, they can have some latkes,” Myers said.

“The Carnival is a big event here. It’s a super sweet community builder event.”

She adds that they also hold a special service during Hanukkah where the choir sings and she tells the story of the holiday to the congregation and other events all week.

Myers said this year the temple has stepped up their safety protocols.

“We still need to practice our faith, our traditions and celebrate our heritage,” she said “Regardless of whether you’re Muslim, Hindu, Jewish, Christian, this is our country and it’s really important for all of us to have the freedom to celebrate our religions in a peaceful way.”

Myers said her heart breaks because of the rise in antisemitism and hate crimes towards other communities as well.

For her, Hanukkah is about the survival of the Jewish people, perseverance and hope in a time of darkness.

“Over many thousands of years of history, Jews have been persecuted and nearly been wiped out but here we are,” Myers said.

“That’s something to celebrate.”

Hosam Elattar is a Voice of OC reporter and corps member with Report for America, a GroundTruth initiative. Contact him at helattar@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @ElattarHosam.

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