YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – During the eight days of Hanukkah, the Youngstown Area Jewish Federation will display a 9-foot hanukkiah, or menorah, in front of the Jewish Community Center of Youngstown, 505 Gypsy Lane.
Hanukkah begins this year at sundown Dec. 14. Hanukkah, or Chanukah, is the Jewish eight-day, wintertime “festival of lights,” celebrated with a nightly hanukkiah, or menorah, lighting, special prayers and fried foods. A nine-branched candelabrum, or hanukkiah, is lit on Hanukkah. One candle, the shamas, is used to light the others, a news release states.
Hanukkah commemorates the rededication of the Second Temple after the Maccabean Revolt, when Jews rose up against their Greek-Syrian oppressors. It also celebrates the miracle of light, when the oil in the menorah in the Second Temple stayed lit for eight days, even though there was only enough oil for one day, the release states.