Chanukah will be celebrated for the community at-large at the Lake Chapala Jewish Congregation on Sunday, December 21, 2 p.m.. There will be traditional food, games and fun.
Non-members are especially welcome. The cost is 50 pesos per person and reservations are a must. Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by December 17. Tickets are also available at Diane Pearl’s in Ajijic. The Jewish Congregation is located in Riberas at Sta Margarita 113, a half block north of the Carretera.
The eight-day celebration of Chanukah begins the evening of Tuesday, December 16. As the days grow shorter, it is truly a feast of light, food and friends.
Each day of the celebration, parents often give gifts to their children and entertain friends and family. Fried foods, especially potato pancakes and doughnuts, are served.
There are several explanations about why Jews honor this holiday. Most, however, center around a second century B.C. legend when Jews rose up against their Greek oppressors in the Maccabean Revolt. Led by Judah Maccabee (the Hammer), the Jews successfully drove the Greeks out of Jerusalem, relying largely on guerrilla warfare tactics.
The Chanukah celebration also revolves around lighting a nine-branched menorah, known in Hebrew as a hanukiah. On each of the holiday’s eight nights, another candle is added to the menorah after sundown; the ninth candle, called the shamash (“helper”), is used to light the others. Jews typically recite blessings during this ritual and display the menorah prominently in a window as a reminder to others of the miracle that inspired the holiday.