By Rebecca Rosen Lum, MEDIANEWS STAFF
Inside Bay Area
Slowly but steadily, Hanukkah has settled in: The giant menorah has become ubiquitous, mainstream stores sell Judaica, and every metro newspaper publishes food sections devoted to latkes and jelly doughnuts.
How mainstream is Hanukkah? Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger participated Thursday in Chabad's 13th annual Capitol celebration.
"Hanukkah has become big as a sort of Jewish response to Christmas," said Rabbi Roberto Graetz, spiritual leader of Lafayette's Reform Temple Isaiah. "It has been used very much to strengthen the Jewish presence at a time when Christmas is overwhelming."
At Afikomen, the Judaica store on Claremont Avenue in Berkeley, proprietor Jerry Derblich said the trend is definitely toward fancier presents and pricier menorahs, the eight-branched candelabrum for Hanukkah candles.
"People are buying the more expensive ones, the handmade, artisan-made menorahs," Derblich said. "And they're buying fancier candles. We used to mostly sell the 99-cent packages. But now they want candles to match their new menorahs," he said.
Despite the increased fuss, Hanukkah is a minor holiday on the Jewish calendar.
Hebrew scripture commands the faithful not to work on major holidays. Not so on Hanukkah, a post-Biblical holiday celebrating a political uprising against the ruling Syrian Greeks.
Like other winter holidays, it's all about light. But that's where the similarities end.
Hanukkah celebrates perhaps the first documented fight for religious freedom.
"It was a struggle of the few against the many," said Rabbi Dan Goldblatt of Beth Chaim Congregation in Danville.
The story says Jews freed themselves from the Syrians more than 2,000 years ago, reclaiming the Temple in Jerusalem. They found enough oil to keep a lamp burning for a day. Miraculously, it burned for eight.
Observant Jews light candles each night of Hanukkah, beginning with one on the first night. But until recently, gift-giving was likely to be modest.
"In our house it wasn't that big of a deal," said Danville resident Debra Witters. "We'd light the candles every night. We'd get one big gift — maybe a sweater — then (smaller ones), like a pair of earrings or some cookies."
Witters gives her sons, Jacob, 10, and Sam, 15, one large gift and books. The Witters always invite neighbors over for singing and latkes, or potato pancakes.
"We never did presents with our kids, and they never expected it," said Rabbi Judith Seid, who leads the Tri-Valley Cultural Jews congregation.
There's little doubt that "Christmas got big, and we needed something as big and beautiful," Seid said. But that's not entirely a bad thing, she added.
"Christmas is a time to be with your family, and that's a good thing," she said.
"It's something to celebrate when the days are dark. Judaism has always benefited from taking on parts of the dominant culture wherever we are. The presents thing is not so great. It's not so great that it happened to Christmas, either."
Rabbis differ over the outsize menorahs that now decorate public squares in many American cities.
The Chabad movement constructs them and holds public festivities in such places as San Francisco's Union Square and Broadway Plaza in Walnut Creek.
The new tradition does not sit well with Rabbi Raphael Asher of B'nai Tikvah, a Reform congregation in Walnut Creek.
"It's a way of competing with Christmas trees," he said. "If it's public property, there shouldn't be any mixing of church and state. I'd rather keep the two separate."
Rather, the eight-day festival offers an occasion for family and community celebration, Asher said.
Other Reform and Humanist rabbis agreed.
But the spiritual leader of Chabad of Contra Costa said Jewish believers should not have to hide their faith.
"Part of our goal is to reaffirm it's Hanukkah," said Rabbi Yaakov Kagan. "We are very proud of who we are as a Jewish people, and we're proud of America, to express so many faiths in peace and harmony."
If Hanukkah now ranks in the public mind as a very big deal, thanks are due to the Lubavitcher rebbe who guided the Chabad movement for decades, he said.
"You can track the marketing," Kagan said. "The average gift shop, they all sell menorahs today. Ten years ago you had to go to a Judaica store. Chabad makes Judaism — makes Hanukkah — accessible."
Beth Chaim members constructed an 8-foot menorah, which they light in Blackhawk Plaza. Its members invite representatives of 10 faith communities, including Lutheran, Muslim and Bahai, to come and light the flames and offer a blessing in their own tradition. Members also help needy Christian neighbors celebrate Christmas — contributing food, or a ride to and from a nursing home.
"There is a central Jewish spiritual directive related to Hanukkah that says, 'Publicize the miracle,'" Goldblatt said. "Even when you're lighting a menorah at home, you put it in the window, where it can be seen. It's a symbol of religious freedom."
Inside Bay Area
Slowly but steadily, Hanukkah has settled in: The giant menorah has become ubiquitous, mainstream stores sell Judaica, and every metro newspaper publishes food sections devoted to latkes and jelly doughnuts.
How mainstream is Hanukkah? Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger participated Thursday in Chabad's 13th annual Capitol celebration.
"Hanukkah has become big as a sort of Jewish response to Christmas," said Rabbi Roberto Graetz, spiritual leader of Lafayette's Reform Temple Isaiah. "It has been used very much to strengthen the Jewish presence at a time when Christmas is overwhelming."
At Afikomen, the Judaica store on Claremont Avenue in Berkeley, proprietor Jerry Derblich said the trend is definitely toward fancier presents and pricier menorahs, the eight-branched candelabrum for Hanukkah candles.
"People are buying the more expensive ones, the handmade, artisan-made menorahs," Derblich said. "And they're buying fancier candles. We used to mostly sell the 99-cent packages. But now they want candles to match their new menorahs," he said.
Despite the increased fuss, Hanukkah is a minor holiday on the Jewish calendar.
Hebrew scripture commands the faithful not to work on major holidays. Not so on Hanukkah, a post-Biblical holiday celebrating a political uprising against the ruling Syrian Greeks.
Like other winter holidays, it's all about light. But that's where the similarities end.
Hanukkah celebrates perhaps the first documented fight for religious freedom.
"It was a struggle of the few against the many," said Rabbi Dan Goldblatt of Beth Chaim Congregation in Danville.
The story says Jews freed themselves from the Syrians more than 2,000 years ago, reclaiming the Temple in Jerusalem. They found enough oil to keep a lamp burning for a day. Miraculously, it burned for eight.
Observant Jews light candles each night of Hanukkah, beginning with one on the first night. But until recently, gift-giving was likely to be modest.
"In our house it wasn't that big of a deal," said Danville resident Debra Witters. "We'd light the candles every night. We'd get one big gift — maybe a sweater — then (smaller ones), like a pair of earrings or some cookies."
Witters gives her sons, Jacob, 10, and Sam, 15, one large gift and books. The Witters always invite neighbors over for singing and latkes, or potato pancakes.
"We never did presents with our kids, and they never expected it," said Rabbi Judith Seid, who leads the Tri-Valley Cultural Jews congregation.
There's little doubt that "Christmas got big, and we needed something as big and beautiful," Seid said. But that's not entirely a bad thing, she added.
"Christmas is a time to be with your family, and that's a good thing," she said.
"It's something to celebrate when the days are dark. Judaism has always benefited from taking on parts of the dominant culture wherever we are. The presents thing is not so great. It's not so great that it happened to Christmas, either."
Rabbis differ over the outsize menorahs that now decorate public squares in many American cities.
The Chabad movement constructs them and holds public festivities in such places as San Francisco's Union Square and Broadway Plaza in Walnut Creek.
The new tradition does not sit well with Rabbi Raphael Asher of B'nai Tikvah, a Reform congregation in Walnut Creek.
"It's a way of competing with Christmas trees," he said. "If it's public property, there shouldn't be any mixing of church and state. I'd rather keep the two separate."
Rather, the eight-day festival offers an occasion for family and community celebration, Asher said.
Other Reform and Humanist rabbis agreed.
But the spiritual leader of Chabad of Contra Costa said Jewish believers should not have to hide their faith.
"Part of our goal is to reaffirm it's Hanukkah," said Rabbi Yaakov Kagan. "We are very proud of who we are as a Jewish people, and we're proud of America, to express so many faiths in peace and harmony."
If Hanukkah now ranks in the public mind as a very big deal, thanks are due to the Lubavitcher rebbe who guided the Chabad movement for decades, he said.
"You can track the marketing," Kagan said. "The average gift shop, they all sell menorahs today. Ten years ago you had to go to a Judaica store. Chabad makes Judaism — makes Hanukkah — accessible."
Beth Chaim members constructed an 8-foot menorah, which they light in Blackhawk Plaza. Its members invite representatives of 10 faith communities, including Lutheran, Muslim and Bahai, to come and light the flames and offer a blessing in their own tradition. Members also help needy Christian neighbors celebrate Christmas — contributing food, or a ride to and from a nursing home.
"There is a central Jewish spiritual directive related to Hanukkah that says, 'Publicize the miracle,'" Goldblatt said. "Even when you're lighting a menorah at home, you put it in the window, where it can be seen. It's a symbol of religious freedom."
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