This year SLU Jews, the Cross Cultural Center, Busch Student Center, Campus Ministry, and Chabad on Campus have sponsored a Menorah for Chanukah. Lisa Reiter from Campus Ministry sent us some info on the Chanukah celebration:
The Jewish holiday of Chanukah celebrates the triumph of light over darkness, of purity over adulteration, of spirituality over materialism. This year Chanukah runs December 1 through December 9.
More than twenty-one centuries ago, the Syrian-Greeks sought to forcefully Hellenize the people of Israel. Against all odds, a small band of faithful Jews defeated one of the mightiest armies on earth, drove the Greeks from the land, reclaimed and rededicated the Holy Temple in Jerusalem.
When they sought to light the Temple’s menorah they found a single jar of olive oil that had escaped contamination by the Greeks; miraculously, the one-day supply burned for eight days.Jewish sages instituted the festival of Chanukah to commemorate and publicize these miracles. At the heart of the festival is the nightly Menorah lighting: a single flame on the first night, two on the second evening, and so on till the eighth night of Chanukah, when all eight lights are kindled.
Join SLU Jews for a celebration of Chanukah on December 7 at 4:45 PM in the Cross Cultural Center.
Image by juliejigsaw – Licensed under Creative Commons
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