It seems that the moment we begin digesting our Thanksgiving meals, the world transforms to one filled with green and red twinkling lights, and festive Christmas music begins to play in all public venues.
My household, two rabbis and an 8-year-old girl, love walking around large light displays, but typically our Christmas celebrations involve Chinese food and a good movie. This year, though, the first candle of Hanukkah will be lit on Dec. 25.
According to Jewish custom Hanukkah is considered a minor Jewish festival, but today it ranks as one of the most beloved Jewish holidays, full of light and joy and family celebration.
Unlike many Jewish holidays, Hanukkah, also known as the Festival of Lights, is not mentioned in the Bible. The historical events upon which the celebration is based are recorded in Maccabees I and II, two books contained within a later collection of writings known as the Apocrypha.
The reason for our celebrations of Hanukkah, which means "dedication," today comes from a story found in the Talmud. We celebrate to commemorate the purification and rededication of the Temple following its desecration. According to legend, when the Jews reentered the Temple after it was destroyed, they found enough oil to light the sacred lamp for one day, but a miracle occurred, and that oil lasted for eight days.
These Jews were brave enough to immediately begin practicing their Judaism. Their courage to light the lamp in the first place and rededicate themselves to their Judaism showed all the Jews not to lose hope even during a time of darkness.
Hanukkah is about the spiritual power of the few against the many and the weak against the strong. Hanukkah brings a message of light in the darkness and hope in time of despair.
Today Hanukkah is a holiday that reminds Jews to rededicate themselves to keeping alive the flame of Jewish religion, culture and peoplehood so that it may be passed on to the next generation no matter the difficulties we might come across as a minority in our community.
It is a holiday that allows us to gather with friends, family and community to bring light to the darkest time of the year. It is a holiday we celebrate at home and at synagogue. We eat fried food like latkes (potato pancakes) and sufganiyot (jelly-filled doughnuts) to remind us of the oil and celebrate that Judaism will continue.
We publicize the miracle by displaying our Hanukkah candles in our windows, each night adding another candle to the menorah. And some south Louisiana Jews decorate their houses with blue and white lights and have giant inflatable dreidels on their lawns to join in on the decorative fun with our Christian neighbors. We play dreidel; a game where a spinning top with the Hebrew letters nun, gimmel, hey and shin, which represent the phrase "nes gadol haya sham -- a great miracle happened there" -- is spun among friends.
And Jewish families visit their children's classrooms to teach about the holiday to others. Individual celebrations vary, but one thing is constant, Hanukkah, no matter if it falls on Dec. 25 or during Thanksgiving, is a widely observed Jewish holiday.
As a rabbi, I love hearing how my congregants embrace their Judaism and share it with their interfaith friends and family during this time a year. As a parent, my heart is filled with pride as I watch my daughter excitedly tell her friends that Santa does not visit our house.
Every year when Hanukkah rolls around, I am filled with hope no matter what is going on in the world around us -- hope that reminds me that my faith, Judaism, will continue year after year as it has for centuries.