For the first time in more than 50 years, Hanukkah, the Jewish Festival of Lights, took centre stage at the University of Victoria on Tuesday in an all-campus celebration with traditional food and music.
“We were thrilled to see that they wanted to do that,” said Sharon Kobrinsky, Jewish chaplain with UVic’s Multifaith Chaplaincy Services.
The first candle was lit in the University Centre’s Mystic Market cafeteria. The last candle will be lit Dec. 23.
Aaron Devor, president of the Jewish Federation of Victoria and Vancouver Island Society, is grateful that Lisa Church, co-ordinator of food retail outlets at UVic, took the lead in making the eight-day Hanukkah celebration happen, complete with decorated cookies shaped like the Star of David, potato pancakes and jelly doughnuts.
Carmel Tanaka, director of Hillel House, B.C.’s largest Jewish student organization, played the violin and voices were raised in song.
“I’ve been at UVic for 25 years and this is the first time that I’ve seen UVic celebrate beyond Christmas at this time of year,” said Devor, who is also a professor of sociology at the university.
Jewish holidays begin at sundown, so the first full day of Hanukkah is Wednesday, said Kobrinsky, a social worker who has been the ceremonial leader for a group of secular humanistic Jews in Victoria for 15 years.
For Jews, Hanukkah represents freedom and tolerance and acceptance of all people, she said.
“It has a story based on a military victory some 2,000 years ago, but today as we speak, we speak about it as the holiday of freedom, the holiday of justice, the holiday of tolerance and acceptance,” Kobrinsky said.
More traditionally observant Jews honour the Miracle of the Oil, when a small group of Jews retook the temple in Jerusalem from an enormous occupying army, but found just enough kosher oil to last one evening.
That oil burned for eight nights, giving time to prepare fresh kosher oil to ensure the light in the rededicated temple stayed lit.
