蜜柚直播

Cohon, the rabbi at Congregation Beit Simcha on 蜜柚直播鈥檚 northwest side, has about 100 of the nine-armed candelabras, central to the eight-day Hanukkah (or Chanukah) celebration, which begins Sunday, Dec. 22.

When his three children were growing up, they each had their own menorah. As they got bigger, so did the menorahs, often becoming more and more elaborate.

鈥淭here are cheap ones with basketballs and baseballs,鈥� he says. 鈥淢y daughter had one with ballet dancers on it.鈥�

He even has one designed to look like him.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a little creepy,鈥� he says, 鈥渂ut it was a gift.鈥�

So among his family鈥檚 tradition for the festival is the lighting of multiple menorahs.

鈥淢ost I鈥檝e had burning at once is 45,鈥� he says.

Makes sense. Hanukkah, also called the 鈥渇estival of lights,鈥� is all about bringing light to the darkness.

The holiday has its origins in the second century B.C. when the Jewish rebels, the Maccabees, defeated Syria and regained control of Jerusalem. In rededicating the temple, they found they only had enough purified olive oil to light the lamp for one night. Miraculously, it burned for eight nights, allowing time to prepare more kosher oil.

Hanukkah is a minor holiday, says Cohon, but traditions are built up around it, many of them personalized.

His family has a competition that dates back to his grandmother.

鈥淲hose ever menorah burns the longest wins,鈥� he says.

Although, he admits, the competition is a tad rigged. 鈥淢y son has claimed the one that lasts the longest, so he always wins.鈥�

蜜柚直播鈥檚 former Mayor Jonathan Rothschild says his family鈥檚 Hanukkah highlight after the lighting of the candles is making and eating potato pancakes, called latkes. His wife, Karen, gives them a southwestern twist by adding green chilies.

That tradition, he says, 鈥渋s the most fun. And the tastiest.鈥�

Jennifer Selco, director of Jewish Life and Learning at the 蜜柚直播 Jewish Community Center, remembers being in Jerusalem during Hanukkah when she was a freshman in college.

鈥淚鈥檇 walk down the street and everyone had a menorah burning in the window,鈥� she recalls, stressing how moving that was to her.

That memory informs her family tradition. She, her husband and three children each have their own menorah, which are visible through their front window, decorated for the festival.

Her children, all under 4, also love spinning the dreidel, a four-sided top, each side marked with a Hebrew letter.

Cohon鈥檚 children, now all grown, made the spinning of the top another competition.

鈥淲e have prizes for whose dreidel spins the longest,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 like to spin it upside down 鈥� now that鈥檚 a pride issue.鈥�

Food 鈥� generally fried with olive oil 鈥� is also a big part of Hanukkah, and Selco has a tradition of making latkes a family affair. Music also figures big into her Hanukkah celebrations.

鈥淕rowing up, we would have a Hanukkah CD 鈥擟indy Paley鈥檚 鈥楥hanukah 鈥� A Singing Celebration.鈥欌��

While that 1988 recording was the go-to music of her youth, Selco has updated tunes for her children.

鈥淭here are some fabulous Jewish musicians,鈥� she says. 鈥淲e make a Hanukkah mix.鈥�

But, ultimately, it鈥檚 about the candles.

鈥淚t鈥檚 bringing out the light in the season of darkness,鈥� says Selco, noting that Hanukkah falls during the darkest days of the year.

鈥淗ow inspiring that we should bring more light into the world.鈥�