MELROSE — Once again, the congregation of Melrose’s Temple Beth Shalom will celebrate Hanukkah with an open house following the tree-lighting during the citywide Home for the Holidays festivities. On Friday, December 6 at about 6:45 p.m., the Temple will throw open its doors and invite the entire Melrose community to enjoy potato pancakes as well as Hanukkah games. There will be live Jewish music by Kadima Band.
Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights commemorates the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem in 168 B.C.E. following the Jews’ victory over Antiochus, King of Syria. The King had outlawed all Jewish rituals, ordered the Jews to worship his gods and seized the Temple in Jerusalem using it to house his troops. In what could be considered the first recorded guerilla war, a group of Jews, led by Judah Maccabee and his five sons rebelled against King Antiochus and won.
When the Macabees returned to Jerusalem and their beloved Temple, they were horrified to see the terrible damage inflicted by Antiochus’s men. They cleaned it up and planned a gala dedication ceremony in which they would relight the Temple’s sacred lamp that, once lit is never extinguished. However, they could find only a small jug of oil enough for just one day. When the tiny jug of oil burned for eight days and nights giving them time to press fresh oil, the Jews knew that a miracle had happened.
Today, Jews around the world observe the eight-day holiday by lighting the menorah’s candles, eating foods cooked in oil and playing dreidel, a gambling game with a spinning top. This year, the holiday begins at sundown on Christmas night, Wednesday, December 25 and ends on Thursday, January 2.
The Temple is located at 21 East Foster St., Melrose. For more information, visit the Temple’s web site at tbsma.org or call 781-665-4520 and leave a message.