With Hanukkah set to start tomorrow night, hundreds of Jewish students at UB will celebrate the Festival of Lights for the next eight days by either going home to family, or lighting candles and swapping presents with friends on campus.
"I am so excited to go home for Hanukkah," said Jon Goldberg, a junior communications major. "I usually go home every year, and this year is no different. Celebrating with your family is extremely important during this festival. There's nothing else out there quite like it."
A celebration of the Jewish victory over Greek conquerors over 2,000 years ago, Hanukkah's most recognizable tradition is probably the lighting of the menorah, a candelabra that holds eight candles for each day the small amount of oil lasted in the Temple following the miraculous Jewish victory.
Hillel of Buffalo, the organization for Jewish life on campus, will hold a series of events for the holiday, including making traditional latke potato pancakes in the dorms on both campuses.
Students who live too far away to go home for Hanukkah said they were happy to have a way to light candles and celebrate the holiday.
"Unfortunately, I will not be able to get home for Hanukkah this year," said Jesse Klein, a junior psychology major. "I am planning on going over to the Hillel on Wednesday for the candle lighting ceremony."
Some students said they particularly enjoyed the holiday's feeling of togetherness.
"It is a wonderful ceremony, where everyone is able to get together and celebrate as one," Klein said.
Some students said Hanukkah is not only about the religious aspects, but the cultural ones as well.
"Being Jewish is not about the tradition and the prayers, but instead it is about the culture," said Benjamin Siegel, a junior economics major. "It is a group of people with common backgrounds and beliefs coming together for a celebration."
For Siegel, the holiday is very much about family.
"Every year we go in an order," he said. "First we light the candles on the menorah, second we give out presents, we then eat our latkes that were made the night before and of course we end the evening by gossiping about the family."
Even those not raised religiously said they would be finding their own ways to celebrate Hanukkah. Florence Hotaling, an East Amherst resident, said the holidays always represent and opportunity to pass down traditions from generation to generation.
"My parents were Jewish, and unfortunately, they did not pass down the religion to their children. But that has not stopped me from celebrating Hanukkah and other Jewish holidays in my own special way," Hotaling said. "I have told all my stories to my children and I have tried to keep their minds open to the religion, whether they follow it or not."
