Students celebrate Hanukkah at Hillel Center

The Helene G. Simon Hillel center held its annual Hanukkah party last night, and despite a fair amount of snow, there was a good turnout.\n"For a such a snowy night, I'm glad so many people showed up," said Rabbi Sue Shifron who is also the executive director at the Hillel center. \nThe Hillel center has held Hanukkah parties during each of its 13 years, but this year they decided to do something different.\n"This is the first time we've had this kind of carnival," said Shifron, referring to the booths set up by the various Hillel committees. \nGuests went around to the different tables and tried their luck at games such as black jack and roulette, tested their knowledge of the Jewish holiday or simply mingled with the crowd. Latke's (traditional Jewish potato pancakes) were scattered on platters in the living and dining rooms of the center, as were dreidels (a four sided top) and Gelt (chocolate coins). \nHanukkah (literally meaning 'dedication') is one of the less prominent Jewish holidays, but is used to mark a significant point in Jewish history -- the uprising of Judah and his brothers, the 'Maccabees' against the King Antiochus. The 'Maccabees' were able to defeat the King and reclaim their temple after which they rekindled the 'menorah' (a candelabra used to symbolize God's divine presence). The menorah only had enough oil to burn for one day but ended up lasting for eight days. It was the remarkable victory of the 'Maccabees' and the miraculous burning of the menorah for eight days that led to the holiday we now know as Hanukkah. \nNowadays, a menorah holds nine candles. Eight candles are used to represent the eight days that the original menorah burned for, and the ninth is used to light each of the eight candles. \nSophomore and Vice President of Hillel, Jenna Brand, said she was glad to see that this year's Hanukkah 'carnival' became a reality. \n"It was a lot of work, but I'm glad that people are learning about the Hillel center and Hanukkah," Brand said. "Since everyone's so far away from home, nice that people have a place to celebrate."\nThis was certainly the case for graduate student Andrea Salzburg.\n"I can't go home (Connecticut) for this holiday, so I like to come here," she said.\nBut it wasn't only Jewish students who were celebrating; graduate student Kyle Duchein (a friend of Salzburg's) was also present Monday night.\n"I'm Catholic," said Duchein, "But I have a lot of Jewish friends, and I wanted to know how they celebrated Hanukkah"