Longtime Chanukah celebration took on renewed meaning as residents honored tradition, community and resilience after recent violence.
A quarter-century-old event brought the community together to celebrate Jewish heritage and Hanukkah in Thousand Oaks last week just days after a mass shooting at a similar celebration half way across the world.
On Dec. 17, Thousand Oaks Chabad Jewish Center hosted its 25th annual Hanukkah Family Festival, which drew about 100 residents from throughout the Conejo Valley to the Collections at Janss Marketplace.
Serving as master of ceremonies, Chabad Jewish Center leader Rabbi Chaim Bryski opened the event with a prayer and acknowledgement of the mass shooting that occurred Dec. 14 at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia, where 15 people were killed.
“Our job, as Jewish people, is to add light,” Bryski said.
“We should now be the ones doing the acts of goodness (the Bondi shooting victims) would want us to do, being their voices to promote goodness, kindness and light in the world.”
Speaking at the gathering, Thousand Oaks Mayor Pro Tem Bob Engler said given the ongoing conflicts and tragedies around the world, events such as the local Hanukkah celebration are more important than ever to help brighten people’s lives.
Thousand Oaks values and appreciates people of all backgrounds, Engler said, emphasizing that the city stands in support of the Jewish community. He said residents are eager to embrace one another and show love and unity.
Engler, Bryski and Sandy Sigal— president of NewMark Merrill Companies, which owns the shopping center— each took turns lighting the menorah on the eight-day festival’s fourth night.
“Fire is a unique quality in our world. If you take a flame and you light 1,000 more candles, that original flame doesn’t go anywhere,” Byski said.
“It stays whole. It stays complete— and that’s some of the message of Hanukkah tonight, as we continue lighting it, it will never diminish our past and only enhances our future,” the rabbi said.
Though many Jewish people consider Hanukkah to be a minor holiday, those who attended said it was still important to come out and observe the Festival of Lights given the recent tragedy to show solidarity and resilience, emphasizing light, community, and continuity in the face of recent violence.
“We just decided we need to come and show our support for every candle lighting that’s public. The more support, the more people, the stronger we become,” said attendee Deanna Bayer. “Our light’s not gonna be put out because of anti-semitism and hate.”
Most of the celebration was not so somber as families celebrated religious freedom, commemorated the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem after the Maccabean Revolt, and celebrated the miracle in which oil for only one day lasted eight days.
Cheers and applause filled the night as children from Lamplighters Jewish Academy danced and sang and a performer juggled swords, torches and bowling pins on stage.
Guests were treated to traditional foods, such as latkes (fried potato pancakes) served with applesauce, and visitors were given small flashing menorahs to wear.
“ The more we do this and the more people attend events like this, the less there is to fear, and we have to keep going,” said Ayala Ben, a Thousand Oaks resident who hails from Israel.
“We can’t stop,” the woman said.
Read the original article here: https://www.theacorn.com/articles/in-the-face-of-darkness-conejo-valley-chabad-chooses-light/