STILLWATER OKLAHOMA MAGAZINE / 19
“ Hanukkah actually means‘ to dedicate.’”
around 168 BC to destroy the Jewish people.
The history of the holiday, called the Festival of Lights, is found in the records of Maccabees I and II, two books within the writings known as the Apocrypha, according to the Union for Reform Judaism website.
The family of priests known as the Hasmoneans, or Maccabees, led a Jewish resistance movement against Antiochus Epiphanes. The father of the family, Mattathias, and his son Judah, became the leaders of the resistance movement. Although they were outnumbered, the Jewish people successfully routed the Greco-Syrians, winning two major battles.
“ The legend speaks of the oil supply found in the temple for only one day that miraculously lasted for eight days,” Payne said.“ This is legend only, but makes for some nice traditions such as eating foods prepared in oil for the eight-day celebration such as sufganiyot( jelly filled donuts), potato latkes, etc.”
“ The legend speaks of the oil supply found in the temple for only one day that miraculously lasted for eight days,” Payne said.“ This is legend only, but makes for some nice traditions such as eating foods prepared in oil for the eight-day celebration such as sufganiyot( jelly filled donuts), potato latkes, etc.”
Today, the Jewish community celebrates with an eight-day festival.“( There are a lot) of songs about the celebration, as well,” Payne said.“ They also celebrate today in giving gifts for each of the eight days of the feast.”
The hanukkiah is the ninebranched“ menorah,” or candlestick, that is used for the eight days by lighting a candle each day.
The center candle of the hanukkiah is lit first and becomes the candle to light the others one day at a time.“ The center candle is usually a little higher on the hanukkiah and the menorah is known as the‘ servant’ candle, always used to light the other six or eight candles,” Payne said.“ A real one will burn with the oil in the cups, but many just use nerot( candles).”
Stillwater never formed a formal Jewish congregation, but some of Stillwater’ s earliest settlers came from the Jewish community, including the Katz brothers, Jake and Isaac( Ike), who founded the former Katz Department Store. Other notable Stillwater community members included Sylvan Goldman, Jake’ s son-in-law, who invented the shopping cart.
‘ Happy Happy Kwanzaa’
The celebration of Kwanzaa began as a time to keep Americans of African descent connected to their African cultural heritage, and became a tradition after the social and political upheaval of the 1960s, according to the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
The roots of the tradition go back to the days of the African Diaspora( Latin, meaning“ disperse”), a time
STILLWATER OKLAHOMA MAGAZINE / 19