Hanukkah began last night at sundown with the lighting of menorah candles in Jewish homes. The holiday, also called The Festival of Lights, lasts for eight days.
The Abrams Family, Lisa, Barry and son Spencer, 4 prepare latkes, potato pancakes made for Hanukkah
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"The two traditional foods served during the holiday are latkes, or potato pancakes, and jelly doughnuts," says Bonnie Wunsch, who lives with her husband, Alan, and 4-1/2-year-old son, Ryan, in Danbury.
Wunsch makes latkes for her family during Hanukkah and was happy to share her recipe with The News-Times.
"If you called 60 people for a latke recipe," she says, "you'd get 60 different recipes. People like to add things to them. Some cooks add spinach, others may make them with sweet potatoes."
Her own recipe has been passed down from her grandmother and great aunt.
"We add grated onions," Wunsch says. "I make them every year for my family. It doesn't matter what day you serve them during the holiday. You just make a batch of them and have them on hand to eat any time."
Wunsch is past president of the United Jewish Center in Danbury. She is also executive director for Alpha Epsilon Phi Sorority, a job that requires she travel throughout the country frequently.
In spite of that, she finds time to cook and loves doing it. She and other members of the synagogue will be preparing a Hanukkah family dinner this Friday in the Center's kitchen.
"We'll be serving salmon and cod, several pasta dishes with different sauces, vegetables, a salad bar and fresh fruit," she says.
And, of course, there will be latkes and jelly doughnuts. But surprisingly, these will be purchased. A caterer in New Haven will supply the latkes.
Spencer Abrams, 4, helps his mother Lisa fry batter for latkes, potato pancakes often made during Hanukkah
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"And we'll probably get the doughnuts from Dunkin' Donuts or some place like that," she says.
"Most of all it's a family night," Wunsch says. "We'll begin by lighting a large menorah on the lawn of the United Jewish Center and by having a religious service, then we'll have dinner and there'll be crafts and games for children. They'll get a chance to spin dreidels."
A dreidel is a four-sided toy marked with Hebrew letters. It's spun like a top in games of chance during Hanukkah and is especially popular with children, who sometimes exchange gelt during the game, or chocolate coins covered in gold foil.
Adults enjoy dreidels, too. Roberta Mandel, a member of Temple Beth Elohim in Brewster, says she likes to share Hanukkah festivities, including the dreidel game, with some of her neighbors.
"I found they were interested in learning about Hanukkah and its traditions and foods," said Mandel, who celebrates with five families in her Brewster neighborhood. She even has enough menorahs for each family to light.
Hanukkah, which means dedication, commemorates the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, after the Jews' 165 BC victory over Hellenist Syrians.
Antiochus, Greek king of Syria, had outlawed Jewish rituals and sought to Hellenize the people of Israel. He ordered Jews to worship Greek gods. In 168 BC, he seized the Holy Temple and declared it was to be used solely for worshiping the Greek god Zeus.
Against unbelievable odds, a small band of faithful Jews fought against this decree, drove Antiochus and his soldiers out of Jerusalem and reclaimed the Holy Temple.
Sadly, they found many things within it had been smashed and broken. When they sought to light the Temple's oil lamp, they found only one small bottle of oil, enough for one night. Miraculously the lamp burned and lit the temple for eight days, until new oil could be found.
The finished latke
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To commemorate this miracle, the eight-day Festival of Hanukkah has been celebrated for centuries. At the center of this event is the nightly lighting of menorahs. In homes throughout the area, eight-candle menorahs will be lit, one candle for each day.
"If you're cooking for Hanukkah, the most important ingredient is oil," says Wunsch. "Foods fried in oil "" latkes, doughnuts, celebrate the lamp that remained lit in the Holy Temple."
Her family will also be traveling to New York during Hanukkah to attend a large family dinner presented by her husband's parents. Alan Wunsch is executive director of the conservative synagogue B'nai Jacob in Woodbridge.
"Last year," Bonnie Wunsch says, "I made miniature latkes and took them to my son's religious education class," she says. "Once you have children, you find it's very important to keep up religious traditions."
Lisa Abrams agrees. She'll be making latkes this year with her 4-year-old son, Spencer.
"Does it matter if I use a recipe from a book?" she asks, speaking by telephone from her house in Danbury.
"The reason I like this particular recipe," she says, "is that, while most latke recipes use flour, this one uses potato starch. Some of the potatoes are grated very fine and others are grated coarsely. The result is a latke that is soft on the inside, but flaky on the outside." The recipe can be found in "Kosher by Design," by Susie Fishbein.
Lisa, who is a human resources coordinator for New Canaan Public Schools, has been making latkes with potato starch for years.
"The hardest part is grating the potatoes," she says.
Lew Robinson of West Redding says he grew up in a family that made latkes, and continued the tradition after he married and had children.
"Every year, we did the menorah, the latkes, the whole bit," he says. But he finds reconstructing his grandmother's recipe for latkes is not so simple.
"My grandmother was the type who'd say, "Add as much as you think is necessary, and then throw in this and a little of that"¦"
Robinson, who was in the restaurant business in New York City and New Haven for over 50 years, says his children are grown now, but he still makes latkes for himself and his wife, June April, a writer and piano teacher.
Robinson recently returned from a visit with his daughter, who lives in Israel.
"She has lived there 12 years and it is a wonderful place to visit. The food! Ah, the food there is fabulous. There are so many different ethnic cuisines there."
As for doughnuts being served during Hanukkah, he says, "Doughnuts are a traditional Middle Eastern food. Round balls of dough are fried in oil until they are crisp, then they are filled with jelly."
So, jelly doughnuts will be consumed this week, menorahs will be lit, dreidels will be spun and potato pancakes will be sizzling on stovetops.
Families will gather to celebrate a triumph of light over darkness, but more importantly, the triumph of determination and courage over religious persecution.
And as each menorah candle is lit, there'll be a pause to remember a small oil lamp that, more than 21 centuries ago, refused to stop burning.