Celebration of Hanukkah starts at sundown

As area Jews prepare to celebrate the start of Hanukkah today at sundown, they took time to reflect on what the holiday means to them.Rabbi David J. Meyer of Marblehead Temple Emanu-El explained that Hanukkah commemorates the battle for religious freedom.”It recalls the battle fought for religious freedom some 2,200 years ago in the land of Israel,” Meyer said. “? It is certainly a holiday that reflects the importance of religious freedoms and asks the question of what we do with those freedoms.”The menorah contains nine candles – the server candle is lit first and is used to light the others. One additional candle is lit every night for eight days.Rabbi Baruch HaLevi of Congregation Shirat Hayam in Swampscott said Hanukkah is the celebration of survival.”The ultimate reason is Jewish identity and nationhood,” he said. “It is a very pride-filled holiday and very different from some of the other Jewish holidays.”The menorah is at the heart of every Hanukkah celebration, but other traditions are family traditions.HaLevi said there are not a lot of requirements when it comes to Hanukkah. He explains it is a very personal holiday.”You gather together with everyone in the home and light a candle each night,” he said. “It is a time to reflect on our survival and our core tribal communal identity in a world that is lacking identity.”Meyer said he started a new tradition in his own family.”I decided to start the tradition of cooking falafel for our main Hanukkah meal,” he said. “The falafel are cooked in oil so we have the oil symbolism and it is the national fast food of our homeland. There are falafel stands on every corner.”Falafel is a ball or patty of ground chick peas or fava beans.Rabbi Yossi Lipsker of Chabad Lubavitch of the North Shore said one of the most cherished traditions in his family is singing a song handed down for generations.”We sing a Hasidic tune? that we have passed down from family to family and generation to generation,” he said. “It goes back almost 70 years in my family and is one of the highlights of Hanukkah.”Meyer added some families exchange small gifts during Hanukkah.”Gifts are usually exchanged only to a modest extent,” he said. “In the Jewish community there is a growing impetus about charitable giving as opposed to material giving.”The tradition of lighting the menorah stems from 167 B.C. when the Syrian army took control of and defiled the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. After three years of Jewish guerrilla warfare, the Jews entered the defiled and half-demolished Temple.They started cleaning and rebuilding the Temple and the work was completed on the 25th day of the Hebrew month of Kislev in 165 B.C. They planned a celebration to rededicate the Temple, but there was only one jar of the consecrated lamp oil, which had been sealed and hidden away.It was only enough oil to burn the Temple menorah for one day.According to Jewish tradition, the lamp burned for eight days and eight nights, giving the priests the eight days needed to prepare more oil.