Menorah lighting set to remember miracles of Hanukkah
While many are getting ready for Christmas, others are celebrating Hanukkah, which began Dec. 12 and runs through Dec. 20. The Jewish holiday tradition is a community wide celebration. For the last seven years, Chabad of The Woodlands has presented a Grand Chanukah Celebration and Menorah Lighting on Market Street. This year the event will take place from 4-6 p.m. on Dec. 14.
Rabbi Mendel Blecher, of Chabad of The Woodlands, will lead attendees in the lighting of a ninefoot, seven-branched menorah at the beginning of the festival. He said that Jewish law says the miracle of Hanukkah should be publicized in order to share the message with society.
“The Hanukkah miracle is about the victory of light over might,” Blecher said.
More than 2,000 years ago, the Maccabees fought against Greek tyranny. The Maccabees were being oppressed by Greek rulers who would not allow them to read the Torah or practice their religion, so they revolted. Statistically, there was no chance for them to win, Blecher said, because it was just a ragtag group against an army. However, they did win their freedom, and Hanukkah celebrates that miraculous victory, he added.
“A little bit of light, just one candle, can dispel a lot of darkness,” Blecher said. “God can give us success that we can’t envision beforehand.”
According to Blecher, there is a lot of negativity and darkness in the world that can cause people to feel down and depressed. The Hanukkah message teaches that every person, no matter how small they feel, can light one candle of truth and dispel that darkness.
The second part of Hanukkah recognizes the miracle of the oil.
“[Hanukkah] reminds us of an additional miracle. Besides the military victory and regaining of Jewish independence and thereby freedom of worship. The second miracle is when they came back to the temple of Jerusalem,” Blecher said.
At the temple, the daily ritual was to light the candelabra. When Jews regained control from the Greeks, they didn’t have enough of the specific olive oil used to light the candelabra. There was only one small jug with just enough to light it for one night, Blecher said. It would take eight days for more to be transported to the temple. The miracle that occurred, however, was that the small amount of oil kept the candles lit for the eight days it took for more oil to arrive at the temple.
“To remember that, we light the menorah, which is a candelabra. We light it for the eight days of Hanukkah,” Blecher concluded.
The celebration on Market Street will have traditional Hanukkah food and musical entertainment and fun for guests of all ages. Food is fried in oil, like latke potato pancakes and donuts, to represent the oil for the candelabra.
“The public menorah lighting—as they’ve been happening in the U.S. for over 40 years now—have proven to be a welcome addition to the diversity and culture America is blessed with and which the Jews are thankful for,” Blecher said. “It helps boost Jewish pride and identity.”
— Patricia Dillon is a features reporter for The Woodlands Villager. Contact her at her office 713-362-4433 or on Twitter: @Dillon_Villager.