Hanukkah in Santa Rosa a ‘festival of lights’

In search of peace and a sense of community, Davida Gaultman on Monday night discovered the Sonoma County Chabad Jewish Center’s Hanukkah celebration.

“This is a happy holiday, I want to be with other Jewish people who are celebrating,” said Gaultman, wearing socks embroidered with menorahs and a necklace that dangled heavy with a silver dreidel.

“We are able to sit here and celebrate without camouflaging ourselves. To me that means survival.”

Gaultman was one of about 100 people to attend the celebration Monday at the Montgomery Shopping center in Santa Rosa.

Hanukkah is a joyous holiday also known as the festival of lights commemorating the rededication of the Second Temple of Jerusalem and Jews’ triumph over Greek oppression nearly 2,200 years ago.

“Happy Hanukkah,” Rabbi Mendel Wolvovsky of the Chabad Jewish Center said to the crowd, just before lighting the third candle of a giant menorah - a nine-branched candelabra - marking the third day of the festivities. Hanukkah lasts for eight days, beginning Dec. 24 and ending Dec. 31.

“Each night is a reminder that we need to increase acts of kindness and warmness to make the world a brighter place,” Wolvovsky said.

“When we bring more light and warmness and kindness into the world three nights in a row, it is a very special energy. Each night of Hanukkah is even greater and … that special message is meant to be taken to the streets.”

As the crowd gathered around the menorah, Wolvovsky handed kids chocolate coins called “gelt.” They played with dreidels, the four-sided tops with each side bearing a Hebrew letter that together form an acronym for the message: “A great miracle happened there.”

People danced in front of a klezmer-style band featuring a clarinet, trumpet and saxophone.

Others sipped nondairy hot chocolate and feasted on kosher hot dogs and potato latkes, while a young boy dressed in a blue dreidel costume clapped along to the music.

“It’s a family tradition” to enjoy Hanukkah, said Marina Kofman, who attended with her young daughter Nicole.

“Life is so short, people should enjoy it.”

Hanukkah, which means “dedication,” stems from the restoration of the Temple in Jerusalem located on the Temple Mount following the Jewish Maccabees’ successful revolt against the Seleucid Empire in 165 B.C.

Only one vial of olive oil remained in the temple after its desecration. The extended holiday is based on the story that one remaining container of olive oil, enough for one day of light, instead burned for eight days.

“It’s a message of hope,” Wolvovsky said.

Some who attended the celebration recognized political and civil unrest in America and across the globe.

“Being Jewish is a real concern,” said Sanford Bressick, of Santa Rosa, referencing anti-Semitic rhetoric and fear surrounding Donald Trump’s election. “I’m very concerned about what’s going on locally, and worldwide. But I feel hopeful.”

You can reach Staff Writer Angela Hart at 707-526-8503 or angela.hart@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @ahartreports.