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Jews prepare to light the darkness
By GAIL HOLLENBECK BEVERLY HILLS -- Beginning at sundown on Sunday, Jewish people all over the world will celebrate the "Feast of Dedication" known as Hanukkah. Members of Congregation Beth Sholom at Civic Circle in Beverly Hills will begin the eight-day holiday at 5 p.m. with a special candle lighting ceremony that is open to the public. According to Rabbi Zvi Ettinger, there will be a special presentation by the choir along with his telling of the Hanukkah story from a different viewpoint this year. "A big percentage of the choir members are new, and we're going to be singing some different Hanukkah songs during the service," Ettinger said. "I'm going to be telling them things about Hanukkah that they're not aware of, a totally different approach. This time, as soon as I finish all my research, I plan to tell about Hanukkah, not from the standpoint of Judah Maccabee (who led a revolt against the Syrians), but from a woman's standpoint." Women, Ettinger said, played a very important role in the holiday. "When my children were growing up, I told the story from two perspectives," Ettinger said, "that which they learned in school and then I always brought out things about the role that women played in the story of Hanukkah. So they were being trained from the time that they were children on the respect and the debt that they owed to the Jewish woman. She was not just a figurehead to stay home and have babies and cook meals, but that she was a side-by-side partner with the man." The celebration Sunday will be about 20 minutes long, Ettinger said. "We're hoping God will honor us by having good weather. We've had a very nice attendance." After the ceremony those who have previously made reservations will enjoy a traditional dinner and entertainment in the auditorium. "The congregation will then celebrate for eight days with that being the first evening," Ettinger said. "During the week we light a candle each night. Those who have families do it in their homes. The president of the congregation will go by and make sure the right number of lights are lit and will add an electric bulb at the synagogue each night." It's a time of gratitude, said the rabbi. "It's also a time of thanksgiving in a sense because we are so grateful and so thankful for what we have." Hanukkah, Ettinger said, is not a holiday just for those who are Jewish. "I do not believe that Hanukkah should be just a Jewish holiday. It should also be for all people of all faiths because it was the first recorded case in history where they fought for religious freedom. So to me this is not just our holiday, I think it's a world holiday. "Look at what we're going through today overseas with Osama bin Laden and all of his people because they don't believe in religious freedom." When members of his congregation celebrate in their homes, Ettinger said, they will light the candles along with prayers said in Hebrew and English. "They will sing if they know the melody," Ettinger said. "Also, we have made it a practice, and I find this to be more accepted by young people today, that instead of giving the children everything (gifts) on the first night, which would mean Hanukkah would not have much of an impact on them during the rest of the week, they give them one gift on the first candle. Then when they assemble for the second candle, they give them another small gift and so on. They may give them one big gift, but they'll give them seven small gifts so that they have something to look forward to and hopefully, as they do this, they bring in something to do a little bit different each night. There are Hanukkah games like spin the dreidel. This is such a wonderful time for the family to not only pray together but to sing together and to play together." History of HanukkahThe holiday of Hanukkah will last for eight days in memory of what Jews believe was a miracle performed by God at the rededication of the temple in Jerusalem in 164 B.C. after it had been desecrated by Syrian rulers. Those worshipers were able to light the temple lamp with a small cruse of consecrated oil found hidden in a wall. Miraculously, the cruse provided them with enough oil to keep the light burning for eight days, the time needed to process more pure oil. This was, for the Jews, an indication of God's approval of their valor in overthrowing the tyrannical Syrian rule.
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