 Pictures from Latke Party on
Sunday, December 12, 2004
Hanukkah Holiday Fun
Jews Focus On Children During Festival Of Lights
By Heidi Stambuck
The Morning News -December 4, 2004
Wynnie and David Hoodis' daughters, Sophia and Valerie, are only 5 and 1 1/2, respectively, but each has her own menorah that she lights with assistance during Hanukkah.
| Hanukkah Events |
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• Temple Shalom children's Hanukkah service, 6 p.m. Friday, Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 901 W. Cleveland St., Fayetteville.
• Congregation Etz Chaim blessings and songs, 8 p.m. Friday, in front of the menorah in the city of Bentonville's holiday display on the downtown square.
• Congregation Etz Chaim Hanukkah party, 5 p.m. Dec. 11, Boys & Girls Club of Benton County, 2801 N. Walker, Bentonville.
• Temple Shalom community pot luck, 11 a.m. Dec. 12, Hillel House, 608 Storer Ave., Fayetteville. | | The Hoodis family celebrates the Jewish holiday in their Rogers home by blessing the menorah, exchanging gifts and eating potato pancakes and at their synagogue by singing, praying and taking part in activities for children. In Fayetteville, Temple Shalom has plans for a children's service and community potluck. The synagogue was established in 1981 and is led by student rabbi Jacob Adler. In a piece Adler wrote about Hanukkah, he described it as "a mingling of the divine and the human." Years ago, presents were not exchanged during Hanukkah, which to his Jewish ancestors was a minor winter festival, Adler wrote. The exchange of presents is a recent innovation found in Christian countries, he wrote.
"As with all things human, Hanukkah evolves and grows," according to Adler. "The divine is infinite. The human can only capture a part of it. So we try to capture more and more.
"If you see some Hanukkah candles, stop, and gaze, and remember: The dancing flames are just a tiny spark of the infinite light."
The Hoodis' synagogue -- Congregation Etz Chaim in Bentonville -- is a newcomer to the area that started in July and includes some Jews who had been traveling from Benton County to attend Temple Shalom. Etz Chaim -- Hebrew for "tree of life" -- has planned a menorah lighting ceremony on the Bentonville square Tuesday, the first night of Hanukkah. The holiday commemorates a battle for religious freedom Jews waged more than 2,000 years ago.
The holiday also is referred to as the festival of lights because of the tradition of lighting the candles in the menorah -- a Hebrew word for a candelabrum used in Jewish worship. Forty-four candles are needed for one menorah during Hanukkah, which is the Hebrew word for dedication.
Sharing The Light
Mark Levine of Rogers, an Etz Chaim board member, said the group is inviting the public to the lighting of the menorah Friday as an introduction to the community.
"We're an open bunch," he said. "Part of religion is educating people about different religions. This is our outreach."
When people are unfamiliar with a religion, they can be harsh, Levine said, but learning about it fosters respect.
Wynnie Hoodis said there is a misconception that Hanukkah is the equivalent of Christmas in the Christian tradition.
Adler wrote that Hanukkah trails several other holidays in importance for the religion. Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are called High Holy Days for Jews, and they generally occur in September.
The times of the holy days change each year because they are based on the Jewish calendar, and Hanukkah typically falls in December.
Family Traditions
"Hanukkah is just a fun holiday," Hoodis said. "Families have their own traditions they practice."
| Holiday Origin |
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Hanukkah is one of the happiest of Jewish holidays. Jews remember when a small band of men known as the Maccabees overpowered the Emperor Antiochus and his Syrian army. They consider it a holiday of miracles.
After the Syrian army destroyed the Jewish temple, there was only enough ritual oil to burn for one day. It would take eight days to make and purify enough oil for the temple. It is said the small amount of oil burned for a full eight days and, therefore, Jews around the world celebrate Hanukkah for eight days.
This year, Hanukkah begins at sundown Tuesday and continues through sundown Dec. 14.
SOURCE: Wynnie Hoodis, Congregation Etz Chaim | | The Hoodis family's tradition is for each person to light a menorah each night of Hanukkah. A menorah holds nine candles because the tallest candle -- called the shamash -- is used to light each of the other candles -- one the first night, two the second night and so on through the eight days of the holiday.
They sing in Hebrew, blessing the menorah and praising God. Some families recite -- rather than sing -- the blessing, either in Hebrew or English, Hoodis said.
Sophia and Valerie's menorahs were gifts from their grandparents, Wynnie Hoodis said, and the family owns several other menorahs with sentimental value -- one was brought to this country from Poland by her husband's great-grandmother; another was a gift cousins sent from Israel; another was a wedding gift to the couple.
"Whenever guests come over, everyone can light their own menorah," Hoodis said.
After the candles are lighted, the Hoodises, like many Jewish families, eat latkes -- fried potato pancakes. Fried food is traditional during the holiday because of the significance of oil in its origin.
The family plays traditional Hanukkah songs on compact disc and also might play with a spinning top called a dreidel before giving the children gelts. At one time, gelts were real money, but now they are traditionally pieces of chocolate covered in gold foil to resemble coins.
The Hoodises exchange gifts each night, with one night featuring a "big gift" such as the baby carriage and doll her older daughter received last year, Hoodis said.
The gifts do not necessarily have any religious significance and could be books, clothing and toys.
Some families might not give gifts every night of the holiday, Hoodis said. Her family has adopted a tradition of using money they might have spent on gifts for each other one night to buy gifts for children in the Sharing and Caring program at the Bentonville Boys & Girls Club -- one of Congregation Etz Chaim's meeting places. Sophia and Valerie help pick out the gifts.
When it's just the four of them, the celebration might last about 30 minutes each night, Hoodis said. Other nights, they invite guests over or visit friends, making for a longer get-together.
Appreciating Differences
Hoodis said her older daughter enjoys seeing the neighborhood sparkling with Christmas lights but understands she doesn't celebrate Christmas.
"My husband and I have instilled in her the importance of our tradition and religion," Hoodis said. "(Sophia is) comfortable knowing that she's Jewish and most of her friends are not."
Teachers at Walnut Farm Montessori School in Bentonville -- which Sophia attends -- do a good job of teaching the children about other cultures and religions, Hoodis said.
"The whole month of December is not all about Christmas," she said. "They also celebrate the Chinese New Year."
Rebecca Freund of Fayetteville, 25, who handles publicity for Temple Shalom, said she was in high school before she realized Hanukkah was not a major holiday in the Jewish faith. Her family put emphasis on giving gifts and celebrating, she said, with a tradition of hiding the gifts to make a treasure hunt part of the fun.
"It's every kid's dream to get presents for eight solid nights," she said. "That was a big deal."
Freund saw a contrast when she visited Israel in 1999, where she saw some of the food and trinkets associated with the holiday, but otherwise the Israelis' celebration was not as commercialized as holidays can be in America. There was a holiday festivity feeling in the air, but it was more subtle, she said.
At the children's service planned by Temple Shalom, children will hear the story of Hanukkah and learn how to light the menorah and say blessings associated with the holiday. The potluck will feature potato latkes and other dishes brought by temple members.
Latkes are usually served with applesauce and sour cream. Many varieties can be made depending on spices used or changing the traditional minced onion for other vegetables such as carrots or fruit such as apples. Freund said her father has a Jewish cookbook with many latke recipes from regions all over the world.
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