Photograph by George Sakkestad
Five-year-old Olga Kuzimina dances during the Chanukah celebration at the Jewish Community Center, sponsored in part by the Jewish Family Service. She and her twin sister, Liliya, came to this country from Latvia a year ago.
By Shari Kaplan
Music played, children sang, danced and opened presents, and everyone ate, drank and generally made merry in celebration of the Jewish holiday of Chanukah, also called the Festival of Lights.
What made the holiday revelry distinctive is that for many of the celebrants gathered on Dec. 15 at the Jewish Community Center in Los Gatos, this is not something they experienced until only recently.
Growing up in the former Soviet Union and even in Russia of recent years, many of today's immigrants found religious celebrations frowned upon by government and society. This is similar to the 2,000-year-old story of Chanukah's origins, according to Michelle Gabriel, co-chair of the event, which was also sponsored by the Jewish Family Service.
"Freedom of expression, freedom of religion, freedom from tyranny--that's what the celebration of Chanukah is all about," Gabriel said to the Russian and American families gathered in the JCC's Sosnick Auditorium. She then called Rosalie and Sid Sogolow to say a prayer and light the menorah, which holds eight candles plus one more called the shammos, or helper candle.
"This is the first celebration of a Jewish holiday for some of the immigrants. Chanukah is about freedom of religion, and these immigrants couldn't celebrate back in Russia," Gabriel said after the event.
During her turn in front of the standing-room-only audience, Gabriel spun the tale of King Antiochus of Syria, who in ancient times forced the people of Israel to follow his religious practices, outlawed their religion and destroyed their temples.
A man named Judah Maccabee--whose name meant "the hammer"--formed a resistance movement and eventually defeated the Syrian army. After cleansing and rededicating one of the temples, the Maccabees discovered there was only enough holy oil to burn for one day. Chanukah celebrates the miracle of the oil's burning for eight days and nights--the time needed to procure a new supply of oil. This is why the holiday lasts for eight nights and the Hanukkah menorah holds eight candles.
Along with Gabriel's storytelling, other entertainment included music by Misha Yagudin, Israeli folk dancing and song and dance performances by Russian and American children. The small but talented Kids' Club, which practices regularly at the JCC, sang songs in English and Russian and played several pieces on violins.
Later in the program, everyone filed through the kitchen to feast on potato latkes (pancakes) and other festive foods prepared by numerous volunteers. The Russian children--some of whom Gabriel said never knew the joy of receiving Chanukah gifts until now--all received toys donated by the U.S. Marine Corps Toys for Tots program. Arrangements for the toys--which were wrapped by teenage volunteers from Temple Emanu-El and Shir Hadash religious schools--were made possible by Jerry Prizant, a retired Marine lieutenant colonel and active member of the Jewish community.
"This is a very new experience for [immigrants]. We try to bring Judaica to them. For me, it's very important that they can have the freedom and feeling that they are Jews and share in the spirit of this," said Rosa Levit, director of the Jewish Family Service vocational department. She herself came to the United States in 1979 from St. Petersburg.
Scores of volunteers made the event possible.
Together with her JFS colleague Vlada Gelfond, JFS executive director Carol Gotim, Gabriel and scores of other volunteers, Levit said she felt pride and pleasure in sharing Chanukah with the community as a whole.
"It was an integration of the Russian community with the American community. It was so bright. It was laughter and tears together," Levit said.
This article appeared in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, December 25, 1996.
©1996 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved