#hanukkah

#hanukkah

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Two flights landed at San Francisco International Airport from Australia early Monday morning, a day after a mass shooting left at least 15 dead and more than 40 injured. The victims ranged in age from 10 to 87. Two gunmen opened fire at the popular Bondi Beach. The attack targeted a Jewish event celebrating the first night of Hanukkah.

The main objective of tonight's event: The importance of unity, the importance of lighting the menorah, which represents the victory over light over darkness -- even we have some much darkness around us,

Hanukkah is one of the most visibly recognized Jewish holidays in the Western world. This is largely because it coincides with Christmas. If you live in a decent-sized city, you are likely to see menorahs lit alongside Christmas trees in malls or outside city halls. Often called the Festival of Lights, Hanukkah commemorates a mythic story of a miracle that carries enduring lessons for all of us, Jewish or not.

While I was there, I was "picked up" on the street by an ultra-orthodox woman who offered me free lodging in a hostel exclusively for Jewish travelers in the Old City of Jerusalem. I was a broke teenager at the time, so I said yes. It was Hanukkah, and all across the Jewish Quarter, picturesque oil menorahs twinkled in the windows and doorways of ancient-looking buildings built from a pearly-pink marble called "Jerusalem stone."

A dreidel is a spinning top with four sides, each inscribed with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The Hebrew letters inscribed on a dreidel are a Nun, Gimel, Hay or Chai, and Shin. The letters form an acronym for the Hebrew saying Nes Gadol Hayah Sham, which can be translated to "a great miracle happened there," referring to the miracle which Hanukkah is centered around.

The footage, aired on Israeli TV, shows the captives observing Hanukkah in a Gaza tunnel months before they died. Israeli media outlets have aired footage of six Israeli captives lighting Hanukkah candles in a Hamas tunnel in Gaza, eight months before their deaths during Israel's genocidal war in the besieged enclave. The footage, depicting captives Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Carmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, Almog Sarusi, Ori Danino and Alex Lobanov, was released online on Thursday night after being aired on Israeli television.

With plenty to celebrate in the wintertime, planning out a family feast is no small task. Chef Andrew Zimmern knows quite a bit about both bizarre foods and entertaining for a festive gathering. Among the wide variety of delicious Hanukkah foods from around the world, one of his favorite appetizers is, itself, a unique delicacy to those who are unfamiliar. "If you want to cook like a baller Jewish grandmother," Zimmern explained on his website, "this chopped chicken liver is a great place to start."

"My new favorite serving dish," one Anthropologie shopper wrote. "Beautiful plate. Perfect size for latkes."

The Holiday Boutique at Temple Dor Dorim in Weston will feature over 40 local vendors selling unique art and clothes. A raffle will also take place, with the grand prize winner receiving a 2-hour luxury charter yacht. Other raffle prizes include a personalized yoga session, private wine class for 20 people at Total Wine and a teeth whitening treatment from Kotch Dental in Pembroke Pines. The annual event encourages the community to learn more about the temple and support their Early Childhood Center.

Many traditional Hanukkah foods, like shallow-fried potato latkes and deep-fried jelly doughnuts, hinge on oil. Also called the Festival of Lights, the Jewish holiday commemorates the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem. According to the story, there was only enough oil to fuel the menorah for one night, but somehow, someway, it lasted for eight.