Jewish communities’ Hanukkah celebrations will burn bright against 2020’s darkness
Jewish celebrants always cheer the arrival of Hanukkah, but this year the Festival of Lights seems especially welcome, providing a reminder of the value of perseverance along with opportunities to ease the suffering of others.
With the increasing spread of COVID-19 and state limits on gathering, Triangle-area synagogues and Jewish community centers have planned mostly online and drive-through Hanukkah events, including a parade Monday night in Cary that ends with an outdoor menorah lighting, but a handful of activities will allow limited in-person celebrations.
All are intended to keep people connected to others who share their faith.
Rabbi Zalmy Dubinsky, a co-founder of Raleigh-based Chabad Young Professionals, says that in some ways, the shift from public worship services to online and private gatherings that began in March has prompted a deeper form of reflection. That has carried into holiday traditions, which look different for Hanukkah this year, but Dubinsky says that’s not necessarily bad.
“Since the large-scale events are not possible anymore, it’s become more about the individual,” Dubinsky said. “It forced us to pivot, but it’s been really beautiful. It’s less about, ‘Let me come to this trendy, flashy party, but if I’m coming to an event, I’m looking for something more tangible and more spiritual.’”
When most congregations shut down their worship spaces months ago, Chabad Young Professionals had one distinct advantage: it has no brick-and-mortar facilities. Launched in 2018, the group is a growing network of Jewish people in their 20s and 30s who gather for social, spiritual and educational events and professional functions. Pre-COVID, those might have been held in local breweries or restaurants or in members’ back yards.
Hanukkah starts Thursday night
CYP has planned a series of events for Hanukkah (also spelled Chanukkah), which commemorates the rededication of the Second Temple of Jerusalem during the second century B.C. After it had been desecrated by Greek-Syrian soldiers attempting to halt Jews from practicing their religion, returning Jews had to light a menorah that would burn in the temple at all times. According to legend, they had enough oil to last one day, but miraculously, the oil burned for eight days, giving them time to resupply.
Hanukkah, tied to the Jewish calendar, moves around on the Gregorian calendar. This year it will be celebrated beginning on Thursday evening and ending on the evening of Dec. 18. Each night, families light an additional candle on the menorah until all the candles are lit. Throughout the festival, celebrants share traditional foods, games and gifts.
Chabad Young Professionals has planned “Eight Crazy Nights: A Wild Series of Chanukkah Celebrations,” beginning with a drive-by menorah lighting Thursday night. Participants, who must sign up through the group’s website, are promised an opportunity to see the menorah lighting every half hour beginning at 6:30 p.m., and will get hot cocoa and doughnuts to go.
Next Tuesday, a small number of the group will join representatives of the City of Raleigh and the Downtown Raleigh Alliance for a first-ever lighting of a menorah outside the Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts.
“The message of the menorah — and the message of Hanukkah — is that all it takes is a little bit of light to chase away the darkness,” Dubinsky said. “On the practical level, when life is challenging, the way love overcomes darkness is not to fight it in an active way, but simply to add more goodness. And at no time has it ever been more relevant than now — a little bit of kindness goes a long way.”
Dubinsky and other faith leaders say that while the pandemic has caused great harm — through physical illness, emotional pain and economic losses — it also has inspired many people to work harder than ever before to help others.
Madeline Seltman, chief program officer for Durham’s Jewish for Good at the JCC, formerly the Levin Jewish Community Center, said that group incorporated the urge to help others into its Hanukkah plans. The group’s food pantry, which has seen more demand than ever this year, also has received more donations than in years past, Seltman said.
Drive-through Hanukkah kits
Like other Jewish faith communities, Jewish for Good has planned online activities as well as some small in-person events for those who feel comfortable being around others at a safe distance.
Normally, Seltman said, hundreds of people would attend a big Hanukkah event at the center, enjoying traditional foods and music.
This year, Seltman’s husband, who also works at Jewish for Good, has been busy cooking and baking to help worshipers enjoy the holiday at home. Those who made reservations will be able to drive through the center’s parking lot and pick up Hanukkah kits, with a menorah and candles and a dreidel, and packages of traditional handmade latkes and jelly doughnuts.
“We are still here and we are still a community and we don’t want anyone to feel alone on Hanukkah,” Seltman said. “There is some beautiful wisdom in the Jewish tradition. The whole miracle of Hanukkah is drawing strength when your reserves are low and just keep going, and believe you will get through, past what seems possible.”
At this point in 2020, Seltman said, “That just seems so relevant right now.”
This story was originally published December 9, 2020 at 2:56 PM.
