Celebrating Chanukah in Fort Oglethorpe
Just three days before Christmas this year, the Jewish holiday of Chanukah (also spelled Hanukkah) begins. It’s an eight-day celebration that commemorates a nearly 2,200-year-old victory of Jews who took back their temple in Jerusalem after the ruler, Antiochus IV, had taken control of it and placed a statue of the Greek god Zeus in it.
Once the Jews were back in possession of their temple, they held a rededication to purify it. The purification included the lighting of lamps filled with olive oil, but there was only enough oil for one day. Nevertheless, says the history of the occasion, the oil lasted for eight days.
Chanukah, sometimes called the Festival of Lights, runs for eight days in honor of the miracle of the oil. It is celebrated with the lighting of the menorah — a candelabra that holds nine candles — one representing the original lamp of oil and the others representing the eight days it lasted. A single candle is lit the first night of Chanukah and an extra candle each night for the duration of the holiday.
Other elements of the holiday include eating foods cooked in oil, like latkas (potato pancakes) and sufganiyot (doughnuts), and playing with a dreidel — a four-sided spinning top with Hebrew letters on each side.
Fort Oglethorpe resident Janet Thomas will be celebrating Chanukah with her many grandchildren this year, as she has done for several years now. Thomas’ grandchildren are not Jewish, and she has been Jewish for just three years.
Thomas is a convert to Judaism. Her journey started when her oldest daughter’s family converted. “At first,” says Thomas, “I was really upset. I thought they were making a terrible mistake and I was heartbroken.”
But Thomas started to study and was soon drawn to Judaism herself. “The more I read, the more it spoke to my heart,” she says.
Thomas says her first memory of Judaism dates back to third grade. “There was a Jewish girl in my neighborhood and we became friends. We just seemed to have a soul connection.”
Thomas began to study with Rabbi Shaul Pearlstein of Chabad Jewish Center of Chattanooga. Eventually, she took a trip to New York City to appear before the Beit Din — a Jewish religious court of rabbis — to express her desire to convert.
“They’re understanding,” says Thomas.
“They believe the process of converting takes time and they don’t expect you to change everything instantly. They told me use up the non-kosher food in my house, not to waste it, then to eat only kosher after that.”
“The first assignment the Biet Din gave me,” says Thomas, “was to learn to read Hebrew. I wanted to say to them, ‘You don’t understand, I’m 57 years old. My brain doesn’t work that way anymore.’”
But Thomas returned to Fort Oglethorpe and settled into a quiet study corner she had created in her bedroom when she first started looking into Judaism. “My oldest daughter’s children helped teach me the Hebrew alphabet and some of the blessings,” she says.
Thomas was also given the job of teaching the Hebrew alphabet to young children at Chabad. “The rabbi said the best way to learn is to teach.”
Thomas spent many hours every day studying and listening to lectures online.
She also continued to study under her rabbi and she got more involved with Chabad, helping the rabbi’s wife, Rosie, in the kitchen where large meals were prepared on a regular basis for the Jewish community.
But after what seemed like endless months of study, Thomas felt she was making little progress. “I prayed, ‘Hashem, if I’m going to learn this, you’re going to have to infuse it in me.’”
Thomas says she woke up at 3 a.m. one morning and picked up her Hebrew reader and everything fell into place. It was a breakthrough for her.
On her next trip to New York to appear before the Beit Din, Thomas faced her biggest test. A rabbi opened a prayer book to a random passage and handed it to her to read aloud. She passed the test.
Thomas says gaining her family’s acceptance has been a long road and is not complete. Some of her seven children were accepting from the start, she says, but some were upset and even angry. “They accept it now to varying degrees,” she says.
Every Friday just before sundown, Thomas lights candles that signify the beginning of Sabbath. Seated around her 12-foot-long table laden with fine china, linens and a spread of kosher food are many of her children, grandchildren and often others. Family and friends are always welcome, regardless of their faith. Some of the children recite the blessings with Thomas and she has a special candelabra she allows them to light.
“On my visits to New York and to Israel,” Thomas says, “I stayed with families that had 12 and 13 children. I loved the Sabbath meals, the prayers and the lighting of candles. The father of the family would go around the table and place his hand on the head of each child, one at a time, and say a blessing for them. That’s just so beautiful.”
Thomas has traveled to Israel twice. “I visited the Wailing Wall. I hardly ever cry — I got that out of my system years ago, but when I walked up to the wall, tears trickled down my face — all those prayers written on pieces of paper and tucked into cracks on the wall.”
“I love the Jewish communities in Israel and New York,” says Thomas. “They can be bold — they speak their minds, but there’s a dedication to serving others, to helping. People show up where there’s a need — with food, blankets, whatever is needed.”
It is Thomas’ desire to eventually move to Israel. In the meantime, she says she will continue to share her new customs and practices with her children and especially her grandchildren.
For Chanukah, Thomas will be making sufganiyot and latkas for the kids while they play with dreidels and sing and dance. She’ll be lighting the candles on her menorah and there will be a special meal for all on the Sabbath day of Chanukah week.
Hashem is a word Jewish people often use for God.
For those who would like to experience a touch of Chanukah, there will be a public celebration on Monday, Dec. 23, in downtown Chattanooga.
The event will begin at 5:30 p.m. with a “car menorah” parade — over 20 cars featuring large menorahs atop and accompanied by music will parade from Coolidge Park down Market Street to the ice arena at the Chattanooga Choo Choo.
At 6 p.m. at Ice on the Landing (1400 Market St.), the public is invited to see a giant ice menorah and witness the lighting of a menorah.
People are welcome to stay to skate — the cost to skate is $8 for children 12 and under and $10 for adults, payable at the gate. There is no charge to attend the menorah lighting.