December 16th marked the first night of Hanukkah for Jewish families all over the world, including many families in our community. We asked senior Samuel Weiner what Hanukkah truly means to him, and he provided his perspective.

“In all honesty, Hanukkah is really not that big of a deal me, or to Judaism as a whole. It’s a relatively minor holiday, and is really only so well-known to the public because of its proximity to the Christian holiday, Christmas. In fact, the only reason that Jewish children receive gifts on Hanukkah is because they felt neglected in comparison to all of the Christian children who received gifts on Christmas. The gift-giving associated with Hanukkah is only present in America. Jews all over the world do not practice this tradition.

So Hanukkah is not about the gifts for me, it’s really about recognizing my heritage. Despite the gift-giving, I still felt somewhat ashamed when I was younger to be celebrating a holiday that the vast majority of my class did not observe. So it was in my days as a toddler that Hanukkah taught me about being different. I learned how it felt to be embarrassed by what made me different, and I may have even asked my parents a couple times if we could start celebrating Christmas instead. Now, however, I enjoy Hanukkah and I relish being able to wear my Judaism with pride.

This year, my 20-year-old brother, Eli, will be returning home from his semester abroad in England. So even though I don’t care much for the gifts, I can’t wait to welcome the greatest gift of all back home.”

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Adds senior Jeremy Zalles, “To me, Hanukkah means spending your night with your entire family. Everything gathers together. We eat food and give each other presents. Some people may compare it to Christmas, but there is a very different meaning to Hanukkah. However, we do get to celebrate Hanukkah longer!”

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Senior Diego Fierros explains his family’s traditions, and the importance of Hanukkah to them:

“Candles? Check. Menorah? Check. Matches? Check. Now my family gathers around the table and חֲנֻכָּה–better known as Hannukah–can begin! Contrary to what its difficult name might suggest, Hannukah is a very simple holiday to celebrate. On the first night we light the center and rightmost candle—right to left. Every night following the first, we add another candle to the group until the eighth and final night. The center candle that is lit during every night is called the shamash (or “attendant”), this
special candle is used to light all the other . Every candle–not including the shamash–represents one night in the Jews’ escape from slavery in Egypt, in which they anticipated having oil for one night. Except, miracle upon miracle, the lamps were lit for eight nights.  After we light the menorahs—we usually light three, one for each child– we put them in the windowsill to light the night.  At some point, we’ll have latkes for dinner, and someone will buy sufganiyah—jelly donuts—but I am more partial to
chocolate munchkins.  Then my brother, sister and I open our presents!”