Hanukkah is the festival of lights, a ceremony of dedication, and a time to bring family together in reminder of the taking back of the Holy Land in Israel.
Sophomore Harold “Isaac” Rabinowitz celebrates this holiday.
“Hanukkah is about lighting the menorah in remembrance,” Rabinowitz said. “1000’s of years ago, there was a fight for the promise land. The Jewish took back their land and lit an oil lamp. They believed that the lamp would only stay light for one night, but it ended up staying lit for eight nights: that is why there are eight nights of Hanukkah.”
During Hanukkah, there are many traditions.
“We light the menorah every night,” Rabinowitz said. “We go to Synagogue, sing songs and say prayers. We also spend a lot of time with family.”
Some other traditions are the type of food they eat.
“We eat Matzo,” Rabinowitz said. “Matzo is a type of bread that has no yeast in it. Matzo is really similar to crackers; it’s flat and kind of crunchy.”
Another popular food during Hanukkah is latkes.
“Latkes are potato that a cut small, added to other ingredients and then fried in oil,” computer technology teacher Stewart Berkowitz said. “Since I’m practically vegan now, and I still want to eat latkes so, we made them without eggs. They were almost the same, still good but just a twist on the original.”
One tradition of Hanukkah is to give eight small gifts.
“We usually get small presents that are like a couple dollars then one really big gift that’s more expensive at the end of Hanukkah,” Rabinowitz said. “It just really depends on your family though, some people I know just get one really big gift.”
To Rabinowitz, the point of Hanukkah is remembrance.
“Hanukkah is about remembering what people have been through and sacrificed for you,” Rabinowitz said. “You have to remember that.”
