Its also unlikely that they had a DJ in the temple or that children played with multi-colored balloons and plastic pastel dreidels.

But at Chabad of Sunnyvale's first Chanukah Family Adventure, a public celebration of one of the Jewish faith's greatest mitzvahs (celebrations), those things were part of the event.

"The relevance of Chanukah is so important it's the only Jewish holiday celebrated publicly," said Yisroel Hecht, rabbi at Chabad of Sunnyvale, while trying to round up his three young children. "This is something we wanted to be able to open to the Sunnyvale community and the entire Jewish community."

Most of the participants were members of the South Bay Jewish community, many from Sunnyvale and Cupertino. There were a number of non-Jewish visitors, however, who enjoyed the crafts, face-painting, traditional Jewish latkes--potato pancakes and sufganiyah--jelly donuts without holes.

Children decorated dreidel pictures with colored sand, built menorah candle holders out of marble slabs, tiles and metal nuts, and they dipped string in red wax to make their own candles.

Sunnyvale resident Charles Straus, 42, brought his family to the celebration. He said, "I think it gives a lot of people a taste of Chanukah, and gives them a chance to experience it, not just watch something on TV or see it on their calendar," Straus said.

Cupertino residents Linda and Saul Golam came for the celebration. "I never thought that we could have this kind of community turnout for Chabad of Sunnyvale," Linda said.

The festivities were leading up to the lighting of a menorah carved out of ice. But the menorah's arrival was delayed. So Hecht and other members of Chabad of Sunnyvale entertained their guests with olive oil demonstrations, Chanukah songs and Jewish storytelling.

Hecht explained the significance of the eight candles and the oil used to light the original menorah. According to Jewish teachings, after the Greeks defiled the sacred Jewish temple, the menorah had to be burned inside temple for eight days to cleanse it. As much as they searched, the Maccabees--a Jewish tribe in Israel--were only able to find a single flask of sanctified oil, enough for just one night. As the story goes, the oil miraculously lasted eight days, the Temple was cleansed and the Chanukah tradition of celebrating this miracle was born.

Today, Hecht said the ritual has taken on greater meaning as people around the world struggle for the freedom to practice their religion's traditions. "It signifies that each and every individual has the ability to light the darkness," Hecht said.

When the ice menorah finally showed up for the ceremony, there was a hitch; the candles didn't fit. No amount of wedging, melting or prying worked. So just as the Maccabees did over two millennia ago, those in Sunnyvale celebrating the miracle of Chanukah relied on the oil to light the menorah.