Chanukah, the Jewish festival of rededication, also known as the Festival of Lights, is an eight-day festival beginning on the 25th day of the Jewish month of Kislev. It is probably one of the best known Jewish holidays.
The holiday begins this year on the evening of Wednesday, November 27, with the lighting of the first of eight candles and traditional blessings and foods.
The Lake Chapala Jewish Congregation (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) will mark the holiday at the synagogue (Sta. Margarita 113, Riberas del Pilar) on Sunday, December 1, 2 p.m. with a Latke Party, the traditional potato pancakes that are consumed in great numbers during the holiday. In addition to latkes, there will be some other finger foods and desserts and traditional songs.
The community is invited to join in. A small contribution will be solicited (100 pesos per person or 50 pesos for Congregation members) at the door.
Chanukah commemorates the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabean Revolt against the Greeks of the 2nd century BCE.
The festival is observed by the kindling of the lights of a unique candelabrum, the nine-branched Menorah, one additional light on each night of the holiday, progressing to eight on the final night.
According to tradition at the time of the rededication, there was very little oil left that had not been defiled by the Greeks. Oil was needed for the menorah (candelabrum) in the Temple, which was supposed to burn throughout the night every night. There was only enough oil to burn for one day, yet miraculously, it burned for eight days, the time needed to prepare a fresh supply of oil for the menorah.
An eight-day festival was declared to commemorate this miracle.