Celebrating Hanukkah at Wayne State

Starting this month, people all over the world will light the first candle on their menorah.  The lighting of the menorah will signal the beginning of Hanukkah which begins on the twenty-fifth day of the Jewish month, Kislev. This year, Hanukkah begins on Dec. 11. 
Here at Wayne, the Jewish Student Organizations are planning activities and services to celebrate the holiday. 

“As of right now we are organizing a coat collection for the needy,” said Neil A. Cantor, director of Jewish student life at Hillel.  “We will also be donating food to the Yad Ezra food pantry during the holidays.”

Yad Ezra, which means 'helping hand' in Hebrew, is an organization serving impoverished southeastern Michigan families with kosher meals and household items.   

“We are also in the process of planning a Hanukkah party on Dec. 17,”  Cantor said.
This year, Dec. 17, will mark the day before the last day of Hanukkah. Cantor said the celebration, which will take place at the Towers Residence’s community room, will have plenty of food and activities. The Hanukkah celebration will begin at 7 p.m.

Most likely, the Hillel Hanukkah party will be celebrated with a variety of foods and customs.  Typically, fried foods and dairy are eaten.  Fried foods, such as doughnuts,

called soofganiots, and potato pancakes, called latkes, are eaten as a reminder of the oil that miraculously burned for eight days. Dairy is also commonly eaten because of the popular story of a Jewish woman named Yehudit, who saved her village from starvation by killing an army officer after serving him cheese and wine. 

Traditionally at Hanukkah celebrations there is dreidel playing, a gambling game derived out of oppression. During Greek rule, Jews hid their religious studies by pretending to play the common gambling game of the time. The dreidel is a square top with four Hebrew letters on it. The letters can refer to the miracle of Hanukkah but also to the rules of the gambling game. Today, the game is played in fun usually for candy and chocolate.  

   
The celebration of Hanukkah derives from a simple history lesson. During ancient times, Antiochus Epiphanes, a Greek ruler, attempted forced conversion on the Jews. He forbid the practice of Judaism and defiled the temple in Jerusalem by placing an idol of Zeus on the altar. In response to the oppression, Judah Maccabee and his four brothers organized a rebellion against the Greeks.

After a long and hard fight, the Maccabbees fighters were able to succeed over the powerful Greeks, driving them out of the Holy Land. The Temple in Jerusalem was rededicated. That is why Hanukkah is sometimes referred to as the festival of rededication.

Hanukkah is also known as the festival of lights. This is because, according to tradition, when the Maccabees rededicated the temple, they wanted to light the temple’s menorah.  But the Maccabees found the Greeks had destroyed much of the purified oil used to light the menorah leaving only enough for one day.

The Maccabees lit the menorah and found it burned until more purified oil was prepared. 

The miracle lasted for eight days, which is why Hanukkah is celebrated over eight days. 

Hanukkah is celebrated today as a reminder of the oppressed people’s miraculous victory over a mighty force.