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For eight days in either November or December, Jewish families around the world light a candelabra, called a menorah, in celebration of the festival of Hanukkah, which commemorates a miracle that took place in Jerusalem in the second century BCE.
For Marvin Hurwitz, a member of Williamsport's Temple Beth Ha Shalom congregation, Hanukkah really symbolizes a celebration of freedom from persecution.
"It's a festival commemorating religious freedom. To me, that's what the holiday is all about," he shared.
This year, Hanukkah, which is also known as the Festival of Lights, begins Sunday.
"We'll light our first candle Sunday night. We light one candle, and two candles and three, up to eight candles. The menorah has eight candles and a ninth one which is in the middle and a little higher up and elevated and you use that one to light the other eight," Hurwitz explained.
The historical origins of the festival began when a group of Jews rose up against the Greeks and Syrians. The foreign invaders had forbidden the Jews from going to Sabbath services or studying the Torah and had actually taken over the temple at Jerusalem, converting the Temple into a pagan shrine, according to historical accounts. An uprising began, led by a Jewish priest, Mattathias and his five sons. When Mattathias died, his son Judah, known as Judah Maccabee and his four brothers, took over the rebellion and within two years the Jews had driven the foreign invaders from Jerusalem.
"The Greeks were refusing to allow the Judeans to be able to practice their religion openly unless they accepted Hellenism," said Rabbi Herbert Horowitz, who serves Ohev Shalom Synagogue.
Horowitz said Hanukkah is symbolic of the rebellion of the Macabees. They were able to liberate Jerusalem and cleanse the Temple and dedicate it with the lighting of the menorah. Even though they only had enough pure oil that had not been defiled for one day, it burned for eight days.
But, the miracle was that a small band of rebels were able to triumph over a mighty empire, he added.
"It is really symbolic of any group of oppressed people. They should not give up. They are able to gain their freedom as long as they have the will and the desire to be able to fight for their freedom," he stressed.
In Israel, the festival is also celebrated in the city of Modien, where the Macabees were from, with a torch ceremony. People carry torches from the town to Jerusalem where the Greeks were overthrown, Horowitz said.
Although it's often compared to Christmas, Hurwitz stressed that there is no connection between Hanukkah and Christmas.
"There are no similarities between Hanukkah and Christmas," he said. He noted that some of the misconception comes from the fact that the dates for both sometimes overlap, although Christmas is always one day, Dec. 25, and the celebration of Hannukah is determined by the lunar calendar.
"We're on the lunar calendar. The Jewish months are lunar-based. With the Hebrew calendar, corresponding to the Gregorian calendar, our holidays are never the same," he added.
"The American custom has been to give gifts to family members because the Christmas holiday has evolved into a major gift-giving event. We don't necessarily give gifts all eight days, but if we do, they might be very small gifts. They do not do that in Israel. In Israel, there is no gift-giving on Hanukkah," Hurwitz said.
Since it is not a major holiday, like the Jewish New Year or Passover, Hanukkah is primarily celebrated at home. Horowitz said that, in this country, menorahs are usually placed in windows and, as each member of a family can have their own menorah, it is possible to see several in one home.
"It's a minor holiday. We eat traditional foods that are fried in oil. A popular one is the potato latke, which is a potato pancake," Hurwitz shared. "Some places eat jelly doughnuts -- things that are cooked in oil."
"In Israel, there are all kinds of doughnuts. Doughnuts are the rage on Hanukkah," Horowitz said, with a laugh.
There is also a game which is traditionally played at Hanukkah, using a dreidel, a four-sided top.
"The dreidel is a low-tech kind of toy. It constantly turns around, you only have to spin it," Horowitz said.
The letters on the four sides -- nun, gimel, hey and shin - are an acronym for the Hebrew phrase, "The great miracle happened there."
Horowitz noted that in Israel the last letter stands for the word "here," since the miracle happened there.
"Years ago, when the Jewish people couldn't really practice their religion or study the Torah, they used the dreidel when they would do some studying. If people came by who were policing or checking, they'd see them playing this top game," Hurwitz said.
To play the dreidel game, the top is spun and, depending what letter or letters appear, you can win a gold-wrapped chocolate coin.
"It was just fun to spin it and let it go," Hurwitz said.