The Festival of Lights began tonight (Thurs) at dusk with the first candle lit on the menorah. It’s the eight day celebration of Chanukah.

Rabbi Raphael Kats from the Chabad Jewish Centre of Saskatoon explains that Chanukah marks the victory of the Maccabees over their Syrian-Greek occupiers in the ancient land of Israel. After recapturing Jerusalem’s Holy Temple, they searched for pure olive oil to light the Temple menorah but only had enough for one day. Miraculously, it lasted for eight days until they could get more oil.

Rabbi Kats says with the war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas and anti-Semitism on the rise all over the world, some Jewish people may want to hide who they are, but he believes it’s important to celebrate in public. He notes that Chanukah is the victory of light over darkness. There will be a public menorah lighting on Tuesday at 6 p.m. in Saskatoon at the River Landing amphitheatre and Rabbi Kats invites everyone to join in.

Some of the traditions along with lighting the menorah are reciting blessings, enjoying foods cooked in oil like doughnuts and potato pancakes called latke, giving Hanukkah gelt which is foil-wrapped chocolate coins, giving gifts and spinning the dreidel. Rabbi Kats says the significance of the dreidel is that under Greek rule, the study of the Torah was forbidden, so when Green officers would come, the children would put away their books and bring out these spinning tops with four Hebrew letters on them. The dreidel is used in a game which also shares the name dreidel.