The first night of the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah falls on the evening of Dec. 25, and the Chabad Lubavitch of Central Massachusetts will kick off the holiday with a celebration in Worcester.
The Jewish community center will host the lighting of a large menorah on the evening of Dec. 25 at Newton Square in Worcester to celebrate the first night of the holiday, Rabbi Mendel Fogelman told MassLive. The lighting ceremony will feature a live DJ, hot chocolate, a fire juggler, jelly doughnuts, and potato pancakes known as latkes, according to a Facebook post detailing the event.
Fogelman said the lighting of the grand menorah has been a tradition in Worcester since 1975 and expects a big turnout this year. He added that the Chabad will give away menorahs to people attending the ceremony.
“We’re blocking off the streets this year,” Fogelman said. “We’re here to educate our community and give them a smorgasbord of Judaism.”
This year, Hanukkah falls on the same day as Christmas. In 2023, Hanukkah fell on Dec. 7. In 2025, the holiday will begin on Dec. 14, according to Chabad.com. The reason for these different dates is that the Hebrew calendar and all Jewish holidays are determined by the moon’s phases, according to Fogelman.
Hanukkah always begins on the evening of the 25th day of Kislev, the ninth month of the Jewish calendar, according to Chabad.com. Fogelman said Hanukkah will occur earlier than this year in 2025 and 2026 but will occur later in December during the year 2027.
What is Hanukkah?
Hanukkah, also spelled Chanukah, is a Jewish holiday that takes place during the winter and celebrates the rededication of The Holy Temple during the second century BCE, according to Chabad.com. In that period, what is now modern-day Israel was ruled by the Seleucids (Syrian Greeks), who tried to force the people of Israel to “accept Greek culture and beliefs instead of mitzvah observance,” the website reads.
In response, a small group of faithful Jews, known as the Maccabees, revolted and fought off the Seleucid army to protect their faith. The Maccabees were led by Judah Maccabee and managed to reclaim the Holy Temple.
The temple featured a menorah, a candelabrum that had seven branches, according to Chabad.com. Fogelman told MassLive that only one cruse, or jar of olive oil, could be used to light the menorah, as the Seleucids had contaminated the rest. The oil, which was only to last for one day, miraculously lasted eight days, providing enough time for new oil to be prepared for lighting the menorah.
“It takes eight days to produce new olive oil for the menorah lighting,” Fogelman explained. “God made a miracle and it lasted for eight days.”
As such, the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah involves lighting a menorah with eight branches, with one candle added to the menorah each night until eight candles are in place — representing each night the oil burned to keep the menorah lit. The menorah also features a ninth candle, the Shamash, used to light the other candles.
Because the Hanukkah story involves olive oil, it is customary to eat foods fried in oil, according to Chabad.com. Two foods include fried potato pancakes called latkes and jelly-filled doughnuts known as sufganyot.
Another Hanukkah tradition involves a game with a four-sided spinner top called a dreidel with the Hebrew letters nun, gimmel, hey and shin. These letters are an acronym for the Hebrew phrase “nes gadol hayah sham,” which means “a great miracle happened there.” The dreidel game involves a pot of items, usually coins, that can be won or lost depending on what Hebrew letter is shown after the dreidel is spun.
The menorah lighting at Newton Square will take place at 3 Newton Ave. at 5 p.m. on Dec. 25, according to the Facebook post.
