Religion

BY PATRICK BUTLER
Religion Editor

"Blessed art thou O Lord our God, King of the Universe who has kept us in life and has preserved us and enabled us to reach this season."

This is the prayer many in Tyler's Jewish community will recite when the first candle of Hanukkah is lit Tuesday evening. The annual celebration observes the rededication of the Jewish temple in Jerusalem more than 2,000 years ago after a struggle with a Syrian-Greek occupation that left the place of worship desecrated.

The rededication ceremony was to last eight days, but there was not enough pure, un-desecrated olive oil to last that long. The "miracle of the oil" was that a single day's worth of oil, a Cruz, lasted the entire eight days. Eight candles will be lit, one each night, to represent the miracle of the single Cruz of oil. The final candle will be lit on Dec. 11.

"Definitely when it comes to Hanukkah, it's never to be confused with a 'Jewish Christmas,'" said Rabbi Alan Learner, of the conservative synagogue Ahavath Achim. "Hanukkah is still celebrated for its main themes, and there has been no change in that. Traditionally, we light candles, sing songs and participate in the retelling of the Hanukkah story. Kids especially will participate in the retelling of that. They will play games and eat the traditional latkes, a potato pancake."

Rabbi Neal Katz, of the reform Congregation Beth El, said there has historically been rabbinic discussion on the symbolism of Hanukkah.

"There are two famous rabbis, Hillel and Shammi, who represent opposing points of view," said Katz. "Shammi argued that all eight candles should be lit on the first night and each night one taken out because the oil was getting less and less each night.

"But Hillel, who always listened first and then answered, said it was not the oil we celebrate, but the miracle, which grew and grew each night. Today, the tradition is to light one candle after another until all eight are lit."

Beth El's Web site at Jewishtyler.com says a "Shabanuca" bash will be held Friday night, combining the weekly Shabbat with Hanukkah. A check for $10,000 will be presented to the East Texas Food Bank's Robert Bush at the early service.

"We wanted to combine the idea of God's goodness for leading us to "this season" and blessing the community at large," said Katz.

For more information about Ahavath Achim, visit the Web site at caatylertx.org