As one of Judaism's most sacred holidays, Hanukkah, or the Festival of Lights, begins on Monday, young Jewish children at a California community center created some unique reminders that violence and peace can exist side by side and that everyone should choose the way of peace.
On Sunday, children at the Folsom, Calif., Community Center were hard at work crafting home made menorahs in anticipation of Hanukkah which begins on Monday. The children eagerly anticipate one of the most sacred holiday’s in all of Judaism, the Festival of Lights.
The children took wood and bullet shells to fashion the menorahs. On top, in the center, was a shell to hold the shamus, or the candle that lights all of the other candles. On either side of the shamus rests the remaining eight bullet casings, reports The Sacramento Bee. The children used glue and focused determination to fashion a symbol of peace and remembrance from the remnants of violence and war.
The guiding hand in all of this was the center’s spiritual leader, Rabbi Yossi Grossbaum. He was in awe of the children as he said, “See the amazing bullet shell menorahs made out of the remnants of war.”
Each candle gets lit by the shamus, or the servant candle, to represent each of the eight days of the celebration of the Festival of Lights. Rabbi Grossman continued to comment that the menorahs were being constructed from symbols of violence and war to represent the transition and the transformation that can be made when war is forsaken for peace.
Hanukkah celebrates the Jewish people’s rededication of the Jewish Temple after the Syrians and the Greeks had defiled it in an effort to destroy the Jewish people. Two Jewish warrior leaders, Matthathias the Hasmonean and his valiant son Jacob Maccabee decided to organize and lead an armed revolt against their oppressors and the rebellion succeeded and they reclaimed their sacred temple.
When they entered the temple, however, they only found that one small flask of oil remained that the Syrians and the Greeks had not defiled. The two just didn’t know how one tiny flask with only one day’s supply of oil was going to help them. What happened is considered a miracle for the Jewish people as the tiny flask of oil actually ended up lasting them for eight days. It allowed the people the time to make fresh and new oil.
“So today we celebrate Hanukkah for eight days,” Rabbi Grossman declared. “A commemoration of the victory of the few over the many, the weak over the mighty, those who trusted in God versus those who opposed them. These are what these casings should be used for, to bring light from the darkness.”
