San Angeloans to Celebrate Hanukkah with Traditional Candle Lighting & Dreidel Spinning

SAN ANGELO – Sunday, December 18, marks the first night of Hanukkah. This holiday is celebrated by Jewish people around the world for eight days in November-December, depending on where it falls on the Jewish calendar. Hanukkah is known as the “Festival of Lights,” as candles are lit each night for eight nights to remember the miracle of a day’s supply of oil lasting for eight nights after the Jewish temple was destroyed in Jerusalem in about 165 B.C.E.  The holiday also commemorates religious freedom, as the holiday celebrates the victory of the Maccabees over the much larger Syrian army.

San Angelo’s only Jewish synagogue invites the community to celebrate the first night of Hanukkah with its first-ever Hanukkah Festival and community menorah lighting on Sunday, December 18 from 5:00-7:00 p.m. We will read Hanukkah stories, spin dreidels, play games, try some Israeli dancing, offer tours of the synagogue with a short history lesson, and talk about the meaning of the holiday, which is a minor holiday on the Jewish calendar, but well known because of where it falls on the calendar. At 6:00, we’ll sing the blessings for the candles and light the first candles on our Hanukkah menorah on the synagogue’s front lawn. We will continue with some singing some Hanukkah songs and enjoy the festive occasion!

The celebration will be held at Congregation Beth Israel, 1825 W. Beauregard, Sunday, Dec. 18, 2022 from 5 to 7 p.m.  Everyone is invited.