Event marks Hanukkah start

Hebrew songs filled the air Sunday as Jews and non-Jews spun dreidels, made crafts and listened to stories to celebrate the start of Hanukkah at the Americana at Brand.

The celebration, one of many to be held in both Glendale and Burbank during the eight days of Hanukkah, marked the start of the festive holiday with the lighting of the first lamp on a 12-foot electrical menorah, which was placed next to the shopping center’s fountain and near its 100-foot Christmas tree.

“It’s the first time they’re doing this, which is really special, especially for the Jewish community,” said Rabbi Simcha Backman, of the Chabad Jewish Center of Glendale, adding that the Americana had organized the event as an attempt to reach out to the community and later invited the center to participate.

Hanukkah, which commemorates a miracle in Jerusalem more than 2,000 years ago, holds a valuable message, not just for Jews, but for people of all faiths and cultures, said Rabbi Mark Sobel of Burbank Temple Beth Emet, which held a party for children Saturday and has another celebration planned for Friday night.

The holiday ritual of lighting a menorah for eight consecutive nights is done in memory of the Maccabean Revolt, when Jews defeated Greek oppressors who had desecrated the Temple of Solomon, Sobel said. The Jews then tried to rededicate the temple with the traditional lighting of a lamp for eight days, but had enough oil to last only one day. But the oil lasted throughout the eight days and provided a symbol for a struggle that holds an important message for everyone, Sobel said.

“The lessons are universal: the struggles for religious freedom and the struggle for identity in the face of an onslaught,” Sobel said, adding that all Americans could relate to the central message of standing up for themselves.

“I’ve been in places where it was very hard to be an American,” Sobel said of anti-American sentiment in other parts of the world.

While it is important to remember the struggles of Jews throughout history, Backman said, Hanukkah is primarily for celebration, and it’s not just for Jews.

Passers-by made small blue bags that were adorned with white, six-pointed stars and gold ribbons while listening to music and collecting chocolate coins and small dreidels.