Jewish Bronxites reflect on a Hanukkah season of joy, tragedy and triumph of light over darkness

Monday marked the final night of Hanukkah, the Jewish Festival of Lights, celebrated over eight days with traditional foods, gathering with loved ones, gifts and lighting the menorah. Jewish Bronxites shared all about their holiday traditions with the Bronx Times and the things that brought them joy and sadness this holiday season.

Elite Rubin and her husband started hosting a small Hanukkah gathering during the pandemic with their quarantine pod and since then, the celebration has ballooned in size to more than 20 people.

“It’s our fourth annual,” Rubin said. “I make 10 pounds of potato latkes, so I’m frying for over three hours, and every year, I swear, I’m never doing it again.”

But Rubin continues to host the celebration in her Riverdale home. She decorates with strings of blue and gold lights, creating a warm and festive atmosphere for friends and neighbors to come together, regardless of their religion. Rubin told the Bronx Times that around half of the people who celebrate Hanukkah at her home aren’t Jewish.

Still, it’s not just an excuse for a party, it’s an opportunity for Rubin to share her faith with people that she cares about, like the story of Hanukkah, which celebrates the rededication of a sacred temple in ancient Israel after it was desecrated and the miracle in which a single day’s worth of oil kept a lamp burning for eight days and nights.

“We tell them the story of the oil,” Rubin said. “We tell them why they need to bring donuts. We tell them why we do certain things.”

Rubin’s celebration represents an interfaith unity that seems to be harder to find amid politically and religiously divisive times.

There was an uptick in religious hatred this holiday season when 15 people were murdered on Dec. 14 in a terrorist attack at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia during an event celebrating the first day of Hanukkah.

Rabbi Thomas Gardner of Riverdale Temple, told the Bronx Times that the tragedy in Australia was on the minds and hearts of his congregation heading into the Hanukkah season. He said that the story of Hanukkah is also a reminder of the power of faith.

“The purpose of Hanukkah is to say that when things are dark, we will drive back the darkness with light, and so we certainly felt that very strongly this year,” Gardner said.

Sometimes called “the season of miracles” Gardner said that Hanukkah can also bring hope to troubled times. He told the Bronx Times that he finds hope in seeing the young children of the synagogue enjoying the holiday.

“We don’t talk about the dark times with the kids, but we just try and make things very joyful for them, and that’s helpful for the adults as well,” Gardner said.

Riverdale Temple hosted its big celebration on Dec. 19, coinciding with Shabbat.

“It was really beautiful and heartwarming and great,” Gardner said. “And that really helps when there’s a lot of bad things happening in the world.”

There were celebrations all over the Bronx over the last eight days, Mosholu Montefiore Community Center lit its own menorah and had inflatable decorations like dreidels and songs by the Child Development Center chorus.

A Bronx favorite is the giant Hanukkah menorah lighting at the Memorial Bell Tower in Riverdale each year. Assembly Member Jeffrey Dinowitz, who represents the Northwest Bronx, got up in a cherry picker to help light the massive candelabra during a big celebration event for the first night of Hanukkah.

“I don’t mind heights, and it’s a great experience,” Dinowitz said. “I’ve done that many times over the years and and I have to say, it was really cold that day. It was a little bit windy.”

Dinowitz told the Bronx Times that as he stood there in the cherry picker, lighting the giant menorah, he had hope that even through the rise in antisemitism and acts of violence, that people can overcome their differences and stand up for what is right to build stronger, safer communities.

“You see the huge menorah and the Christmas tree within feet of each other, and to me, I think that shows what our community is about,” Dinowitz said. “That is that different, faiths, different traditions coming together, not only the Jewish community and Christian community, but really all communities.”