Sunday, November 28, 2021

Hanukkah Celebration, Light After Adversity

Rabbi-in-residence Avram Mlotek of Marlene Meyerson Jewish Community Center in New York City participated in virtual celebrations last year, with a latke cooking class and menorah lightings offered online.

He hopes to reach a larger audience of current and future generations of Jewish people to celebrate life and Hanukkah this year.

In 2019, New York City resident Lisa Gaetjens' family threw a party for dozens of family and friends filled with traditional foods like latkes and sufganiyot, which are fried jelly doughnuts.

Hanukkah is celebrated on different dates each year because the celebration days are determined by the ancient Hebrew calendar.

The ancient Hebrew calendar determines when Hanukkah is celebrated -- not the Gregorian calendar -- which is why the dates change from year to year.

(CNN)Celebrating Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights, is a bright spot for Jewish people after nearly two years of living in a pandemic.

Rudkin volunteers at The Friendship Circle of Pittsburgh, a Jewish community-based group that works to enrich the lives of youth and adults in the Pittsburgh area.

Meyerson believes that Jewish people are prepared to celebrate online because they had to do it early on in the pandemic.

Her family decided to transition their party online last year, which was a smaller affair.

Over 5.1 million people have died worldwide from Covid-19, but rising vaccination numbers have allowed a mixture of virtual and in-person events this year.

Last year, she decided not to invite friends over, but she still made latkes with her parents at home.

The ancient ruler King Antiochus IV abolished Jewish religion and forced Jews to worship the Greek gods.

(Source by :CNN)

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