Hanukkah more pertinent than ever before - Union of Jewish Students

A Hanukkah menorah being installed in Trafalgar Square

The story of Hanukkah will be "more pertinent than ever before" this year, the president of the Union of Jewish Students has said.

Edward Isaacs said the union was asking students to light an extra candelabra used on the festival for Jewish people still being held in captivity by Hamas.

Hanukkah, or the Festival of Lights, runs from 7 to 15 December this year.

Events will be held in London, including in Golders Green and Trafalgar Square, to mark the festival.

'Pride and resistance'

Mr Isaacs said: "We have facilitated a hostage campaign, themed around Hanukkah, with every other youth movement within the British Jewish community.

"We are quite literally distributing thousands of Hanukkah candles, all of which come with a picture of a hostage on them, with the slogan, 'We light for those who can't', and hashtag 'Bring them home now'.

What is Hanukkah?

Hanukkah or Chanukah is the Jewish Festival of Lights. It dates back to two centuries before the beginning of Christianity.

The festival begins on the 25th day of Kislev, a month which occurs in November and December on the Gregorian calendar, and is celebrated for eight days.

In the western calendar Hanukkah is celebrated in November or December.

The word Hanukkah means rededication and commemorates the Jews' struggle for religious freedom.

"While it is normally a joyous time, I think the focus on Jewish pride and resistance will still be there," said the 21-year-old, who is based in London.

He added that Jewish students across the country were dealing with an "unprecedented rise of antisemitism on campus" and urged people to recognise it and call it out.

At Hanukkah, also spelled Chanukah, a Hanukkiah is a lit. Also sometimes called a Hanukkah menorah, it has nine candleholders

Gary Mond, chairman of the National Jewish Assembly, said it was "hard to say" how many people would attend public events as the Gaza war continues.

Mr Mond said the "traditions of Hanukkah will continue to be observed" but "many Jews in this country are very fearful at the moment".

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"A lot of Jews feel very much alone in that they don't believe that they have had a lot of support from non-Jews and that they are facing higher levels of antisemitism than ever before," the 64-year-old said.

"I know that some of the chabads are organising celebrations and public menorah lightings," he said. "It will be interesting to see how well attended they are."

Reflecting on his own plans, he said: "I think we'll probably go to the Golders Green chabad at least once during Hanukkah, maybe twice.

"The National Jewish Assembly is organising a Hanukkah party in the House of Lords and around 150 of our members and guests are coming."

In Trafalgar Square, a giant menorah will be on display for a week from Thursday, with one of the lights lit at 16:00 GMT each day apart from on Saturday, when the lighting will be at 17:15.

Speaking at the event, Rabbi Yossi Simon from Chabad Golders Green said: "Hanukkah is all about light overpowering the darkness... one little candle can dispel a lot of darkness."

He said lighting more candles each day reminds Jews to focus on "increasing positive energy", for example by "uplifting someone" or giving a smile.

He added with current world events, this year "there is an incredible effort" going into Hanukkah celebrations including "giant menorahs going up throughout the United Kingdom and across the world" because "people around the world are getting depressed, are feeling low, and we can uplift people".

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