TRANSCRIPT
(Singing)
Hanukkah - a celebration of Jewish rebels who bested their oppressors.
The holiday marks what's known as the Miracle of Hanukkah.
Rabbi Aycee Abrahams from The Soul Centre explains that the miracle is two-in-one with the rededication of a temple desecrated by Syrian Greek occupiers and lighting a menorah for eight days with a tiny amount of oil.
"One is the actual military victory, the fact they took on a massive, mighty army and that they were able to defeat them, and secondly that this oil miraculously, instead of lasting just one night, it was able to last eight days. We have this Hanukkah festival now where we light the Menorah, and we actually have oily foods because of the miracle of the oil. So, we have donuts which are fried in oil, we have latkes, which are like a hashbrown which are fried in oil."
And aside from oily foods, another favourite Hanukkah tradition of the young and those young at heart is a betting game played with what are known as dreidels.
"It's a spinning top that spins and there are symbols on every face of it and different symbols give you different amounts of money."
But the most famous tradition is lighting a multibranched candelabra - known as a Menorah - with a candle for each of the eight days of the festival.
As each candle is lit, a blessing is offered.
This year, conflict between Israel and several of its neighbours in the Middle East has seen an increase of racist and hate-fuelled incidents against Jews and Muslims in Australia, including the recent firebombing of a synagogue in Melbourne.
Rabbi Abrahams says it's important to not let these acts of hatred scare Jewish people from celebrating their faiths.
"I think a lot of people in today's climate are feeling very insecure and very unsafe. The natural reflex would probably be to hide, and I think now's the time to spread light and be courageous and say 'You know what? We're not going to cower away. We're not going to hide. We've done that for far too long.' Now's the time to be proud to be Jews, to be proud to spread light and really the message is a message of hope. That's what the candles are. They represent light, they represent goodness. They represent the fact that if you light a little bit of light, you can dispel darkness."
Events are taking place across Australia to celebrate the festival of lights.
But for some, like Soul Centre co-founder Sorella Abrahams, the holiday is about focusing on the family.
"Hanukkah is just a really beautiful time to come together, firstly as a family. Connecting, sitting down, making time to just be together in today's fast-paced world, I think even that is miraculous, getting everyone away from screens and to just stop for a minute."
