NM’s Festival of Lights
‘Chanukah Night Glow’ to take place at Balloon Fiesta Park on Sunday
Many of New Mexico’s 20,000 Jewish residents will light a candle at sundown tonight, marking the first of eight days of the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah.
In Albuquerque, Chabad of New Mexico will sponsor a “Chanukah Night Glow” on Sunday, from 4:30 to 5:45 p.m., at Balloon Fiesta Park, 5000 Balloon Fiesta Parkway NE. It will feature what is being billed as the world’s only and largest Menorah formed from hot-air balloons. The event and park-
ing are free.
The Hebrew word Chanukah, also spelled Hanukkah and other variations, means “dedication.” It commemorates the re-dedication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem in the Second Century BCE. Jerusalem and its Holy Temple had been occupied by the Syrian-Greek Seleucids until a small band of Jews led by Judah Maccabee drove them from the land.
The Maccabee followers cleared the temple of idols and built a new altar. As part of the re-dedication, they lit a Menorah, or candelabra, with the one cruse of pure olive oil they were able to find in the temple and which bore the seal of the high priest. The oil was expected to last only one day, but miraculously it lasted eight days, the time required to prepare new oil under conditions of ritual purity.
Hanukkah, also known as the Festival of Lights, is commemorated by lighting the Menorah, or Hanukkiah, a candelabra with nine branches — one for each of the eight days the ancient oil burned, and a ninth branch that holds the “shamash,” or helper candle that is used to light the others. On the first day of Hanukkah, one candle is lit; on the second day, two candles are lit, and so on.
Jews also commemorate the holiday by eating foods cooked in oil, such as latkes (potato pancakes) or sufganiyot (jellyfilled doughnuts).