FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS BEGINS

Acrowd of about 300 people gathered Tuesday for the “Bricktown Lights” Grand Hanukkah Celebration at the Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark Third Base Plaza, 2 Mickey Mantle Drive.

The festive community event included the lighting of a “mega” menorah to commemorate the first night of Hanukkah, the Jewish Festival of Lights.

Attendees enjoyed music and opportunities to dance with “Dreidel Man,” portrayed by Shaya Gourary of Michigan.

Traditional Hanukkah foods like jelly doughnuts and latkes were served at the end of the event but not before children received a special treat that rained down upon them from the sky.

People cheered as a “Drone-orah” — a fusion of a lighted menorah and a drone — flew over the crowd and released chocolate coins called Hannukah gelt to the delight of the youths in the plaza.

“Bricktown Lights” was sponsored by the Chabad Community Center for Jewish Life and Learning, led by Rabbi Ovadia Goldman.

The eight-day holiday of Hanukkah commemorates the victory of a band of Jews, the Maccabees, against Greek-Syrian occupiers in 165 B.C. and the rededication of the Jewish Temple.

When the Maccabees reclaimed the temple from their oppressors, they wanted to light the eternal light, known as the N’er Tamid, which is in every Jewish house of worship.

According to tradition, once lit, the oil lamp should never be extinguished, but the Maccabees had only enough oil for one day.

During Hanukkah, Jewish families celebrate the miracle that the lamp stayed lit for eight days with the small amount of oil that remained.

The most popular symbol of Hanukkah is the menorah, a type of lamp.

[PHOTOS BY SARAH PHIPPS, THE OKLAHOMAN] Chase Rabineau holds his son Shepherd Rabineau, 4, as he holds a candle Tuesday during the annual Hanukkah menorah lighting event hosted by Chabad Community Center for Jewish Life and Learning in Oklahoma City on the third base plaza outside of the...

People light other Hanukkah candles during the annual Hanukkah menorah lighting.