The traditional Chanukah Family Festival goes modern this afternoon at 5:30 at Westfield Culver City, the Fox Hills Mall, when the eight-day Jewish holiday of liberation begins.
Yossi Gresiman, the friendliest rabbi on the Westside, will be surrounded by his large family and fellow Jews on Level 1, at the Best Buy Court, standing at the base of a huge and most unusual menorah.
Made of Legos.
The Legos menorah will be lighted at 6 o’clock — one candle tonight, and one more each of the eight days of Chanukah, the Festival of Lights when latkes, or potato pancakes, are a centerpiece food along with numerous melodies and the game of dreidel.
And, oh, yes, children traditionally receive one present each night of Chanukah.
Clowns , latkes, children’s crafts, music, dreidels and Chanukah gelt will be offered at this free celebration open to the public.
The term chanukah is Hebrew for “to dedicate,” in this case, 2,158 years ago — the year 147 BCE, Before the Common Era — to re-dedicate the Temple in Jerusalem after heroic Jewish warriors, the Maccabees, defeated an army of the Greek emperor Antiochus.
The miracle that helped spark the festival: The permanent Temple lamp contained only enough oil for one day — but, inexplicably, the oil burned for eight days, until a refill became available.
By the Hebrew calendar, Chanukah falls on the 25th day of the month of Kislev, meaning it can occur on the Gregorian calendar anywhere from late November to late December.
For all of that, Chanukah is a holiday of minor proportions, lightly noticed by Jews in most of the world — America being an exception because of its proximity to Christmas.
