My first Hanukkah Celebration

Driving into my small, gated community, I noticed a HUGE sign. There were two things I could read, the date and the time. I had no clue what it was for, but natural curiosity lead me to ask a lot of questions until I found it was for a Hanukkah celebration in our neighborhood, also known as the Festival of Lights.I decided I would go to the celebration...I'm in Israel so I knew there would be coffee and dessert at some point, if for nothing else, it is a must to go for coffee and dessert!

Let me begin my explaining what Hanukkah is and what it is not: IT IS NOT CHRISTMAS though many treat it that way because if falls around Christmas time. The origin of the two holidays is very different. Hanukkah celebrates the triumph of faith and courage over military might. It is the classic underdog story. It is eight-day Jewish holiday commemorating the re-dedication of the Holy Temple (the second temple) in Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabean Revolt of the 2nd century BCE.

The holy Temple had been defiled with pagan rituals, and they had been ordered to worship other gods. A small group of faithful Jews, known now as the Maccabees, rose up and defeated the invaders, reclaimed the Temple, cleansed it, removed the idols, and rededicated it.

Within the temple, there was a huge menorah (seven branched candelabra that burned oil) that had to be lit. This light was supposed to remain always lit within the Temple. But the sacred olive oil needed to burn in the Menorah took eight days to prepare. And there was only a one-day supply of oil on hand.

They decided to light the flame anyway. And, a great miracle occurred. The oil burned continuously for eight days, long enough for new oil to be purified.

Since that time, Hanukkah has been celebrated for eight days to recall the miracle when the menorah burned for eight days with only one day's supply of oil in the Temple.

Back to our neighborhood festivities:
I had no idea where to go, I just noticed a mass amount of people carrying homemade lanterns. I followed the crowd and pretended to sing along with them.
We ended in front of our grocery store. There, everyone got a light or a candle, then we proceeded through our little center. After that we ended at the school yard where there was a light show with fire.

If you know me, then you know I am PETRIFIED of fire. Everyone had fire...even children. I was very nervous and VERY cautious. At the "light show" aka...FIRE show I noticed a little boy about 2yrs old carrying a TORCH of fire...I saw this coming, but of course he caught a little girl on fire....thank God for fireproof children's clothing...it only got the back of her coat, she didn't even realize she was on fire....after that, I made sure the people around me blew out their fire!

From there we picked up and went to the gym where there was COFFEE AND DESSERT of course, along with skits, songs, tumbling and the lighting of the menorah. While the language barrier prohibited me from understanding word for word what was going on, I understood the gist of it. There was a skit about "light" and different ways people encounter light daily...There was a firefighter (comes to fire), a coal miner (light on his hat), a very religious person (Light of God) ect...There were singers, tumblers, music and the lighting of the menorah. The entire evening was based upon "light".

The experience was rich. I can't wait for Rosie to get a taste of different cultures, food, and festivals! Below are pictures of the night! Enjoy!