As the University celebrated the beginning of the holiday season at the Candlelight Ceremony on Tuesday evening, Jewish students celebrated the first night of Hanukkah – the Festival of Lights. Hanukkah, the last Jewish holiday of the calendar year, began early this year, at sundown Tuesday, and will end Dec. 12. Rabbi Corie Yutkin of the Congregation B’nai Israel in Baton Rouge was on hand to light candles at the University ceremony, which in the past usually fell before Hanukkah. Moshe Cohen, mathematics graduate student and Hillel staff member, said Hanukkah commemorates the Jews’ freedom from religious persecution by the Seleucid Greeks in biblical times. Cohen said when the Second Temple in Jerusalem was rededicated in 165 B.C., there was only enough sacred oil to light the Temple’s eternal flame for one day. It was lit anyway, and the oil lasted eight days, long enough for more oil to be produced. Jocelyn Wedelich, mathematics freshman, said Hanukkah is “a more joyous festival” compared to other serious Jewish holidays like Yom Kippur, a day of atonement. “It’s a celebration,” she said. “Sometimes I think people think it’s our version of Christmas, but they don’t understand that there’s a completely different reason behind it.” At the University, students find a variety of ways to celebrate. Cohen said nearly 20 people gathered Sunday evening for a party at Hillel co-president David Shulman’s house, where they watched the LSU Tigers’ selection to the Bowl Championship Series National Championship game. Party-goers also enjoyed latkahs – traditional fried potato dishes – and played the Jewish dreidel game. The dreidel is a four-sided top-like toy, which Cohen said was originally used as a way to teach children about the miracles of Hanukkah. Four Hebrew words on the toy’s sides read, “A great miracle happened there.” Wedelich has a busy Hanukkah schedule. She won the dreidel game at the Hillel party and celebrated the holiday by lighting candles with her friend Nancy Pesses, animal, dairy and poultry sciences freshman. Wedelich is also taking her final exams early so she can spend the rest of Hanukkah with her family in Houston. “Some people don’t celebrate [Hanukkah] as seriously, but my family does,” she said. “We all get together and light candles every night. One night of Hanukkah, my entire extended family comes over, and we make a big latkah dinner and exchange presents.” Wedelich said Hanukkah is one of the few times she gets to see many of her 53 first cousins. “Contrary to popular belief, [Hanukkah] is not the most important Jewish holiday,” Pesses said. “But around here, since Christmas is hyped up and everything, we get into it, too. It’s more about family on this holiday than it is about the presents.” Additionally, Cohen said community service is a popular holiday practice. “A big tenant of Judaism [that] we are reminded of at this time of year is social justice,” he said. “Lots of Jews take this time to volunteer. They look for those who don’t have [anything] and try to ensure that no one is suffering.” Cohen said Hillel worked with the Social Work Student Association this past week to throw a pizza party at the Youth Oasis teen center in Baton Rouge. Members also gathered the teens’ holiday wish lists and spent $10 to $20 of their own money to buy gifts. Today, Cohen said, Hillel will team up with the Big Buddy mentoring program and the Men’s Club of Congregation B’Nai Israel in Baton Rouge to take disadvantaged children on a holiday shopping spree. The congregation raised funds for the spree, and the children will walk through Macy’s in the Mall of Louisiana and purchase gifts for their family members. “We’re not only serving as role models in the Baton Rouge community but also in the Baton Rouge Jewish community,” Cohen said. “It’s a nice time to do anything we can do to make the holiday season brighter. We look for these opportunities.”
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