Congregation celebrates Hanukkah

At dusk on Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025 at Winstanley Park in Greenwood Lake, officers and trustees of Temple B’Nai Torah Shul celebrated the first day of Hanukkah by lighting the giant Menorah on Windermere Avenue. They were joined by the village mayor, village trustees, and dozens of bundled-up supporters and congregation members.

Hanukkah traces its origins to a moment in Jewish history when both faith and identity were under direct assault. In the second century BCE, the Seleucid Greek ruler Antiochus IV sought to erase Jewish religious practice, outlawing sacred traditions and desecrating the Temple in Jerusalem. What followed was not a clash of empires, but a rebellion led by Judah Maccabee and a small, determined band who refused to surrender their beliefs to fear or force.

Against overwhelming odds, the Maccabees reclaimed the Temple and set about restoring what had been violated. In doing so, they encountered a simple but profound challenge: there was only enough consecrated oil to light the Temple’s Menorah for a single day. Yet tradition tells us that the flame endured for eight. That unexpected persistence of light became the heart of Hanukkah—a celebration not only of military victory, but of spiritual resilience. Jessica Lewis and Lenny Rosenbaum led the attendees by reminding the assembly about Hanukkah’s origin and the Maccabees and then they sung three short Hebrew prayers that traditionally accompany the ceremony.

Over time, Hanukkah has grown into a powerful metaphor for the human experience.

“The darkness the Maccabees faced was not merely political or physical; it was moral and spiritual,” Rosenbaum said. “Their response reminds us that darkness does not have to be confronted all at once. Sometimes, it is enough to kindle a single light — to take one faithful action, to hold one value steady, to believe that renewal is possible even when circumstances suggest otherwise.”

Each candle lit during Hanukkah carries this message forward.

“Light does not argue with darkness; it diminishes it simply by existing. In our own lives, moments of doubt, loss, or fear can feel all-encompassing. Hanukkah teaches that perseverance, even in small measures, has the power to illuminate a path forward,” Lewis added.

One candle becomes two, two become many, and gradually the shadows recede. In this way, Hanukkah is not only a remembrance of the past, but an invitation in the present: To choose light when darkness appears, to trust that endurance can outlast despair, and to recognize that even a fragile flame, protected and sustained, can transform the night.