Members of Helena's Jewish community on Tuesday night will begin the celebration of Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights, while gathered at their homes in peaceful reflection.

Hanukkah -- or Chanukah, as it's also spelled -- has nothing to do with Christmas, though some may assume the holidays' proximity to each other has some meaning. Though Hanukkah isn't a major Jewish holiday, its stature has been pumped up in the commercial world by its closeness to that other celebration

Hanukkah celebrates the strength of the Jewish people to overcome oppressors and resist assimilation, maintaining their identity through shrewdness and tenacious rebellion.

Two Helena women, Janet Tatz and Sarah Elkins, in a recent interview shared the stories and traditions of this holiday.

Both will share their knowledge with students and adults throughout the eight-day holiday. Elkins will be at the Carousel on Friday from 6 to 8 p.m. for a discussion, and all comers will receive a free dreidel. She also will speak to students at Hawthorne Elementary, while Tatz has been invited to give a presentation to a Helena High School class studying the Holocaust.

Origins

About 2,200 years ago, Jerusalem was ruled by Greco-Assyrians, who outlawed Jewish traditions and killed those who refused to obey, according to an account provided by Tatz.

Inspired by the words and deeds of Channah, the daughter of a high priest, the Jews chose to fight -- waging the first known successful war for religious freedom. Rather than directly engaging the large occupying army, Jewish harriers conducted a series of attacks over several years, eventually wearing down their invaders.

"It was basically the first guerilla war ... ever fought for religious freedom, and that's why it's good for people of all religions," Tatz said.

Rather than continue the fight, the army gave up a portion of Jerusalem, allowing the Jews freedom to practice their ways. Priests returned to the temple, finding it defiled and filled with the remains of animal sacrifices performed there by the Greco-Assyrians.

Traditionally, Jewish temples contain an eternal flame, fueled by oil. The priests found only a small amount of olive oil, enough to keep light for one day.

Needing eight days to make and purify new oil, they faced a dilemma: "Do we light it and just let it go out? Or will we light it and have faith that it'll stay lit?" Elkins said.

According to tradition, the flame miraculously stayed alight for the necessary eight days.

The Jews celebrated by belatedly holding a harvest festival, Sukkoth, which traditional occurs two months earlier. In the following years, they continued to hold two harvest festivals before eventually designating the second as Hanukkah, which means "rededication."

"This is a holiday that commemorates the strength of the Jews to resist assimilation," Elkins said. "It's a miracle that there's still a Jewish identity."

"We still remember and rededicate, each year, our Jewish heritage," Tatz agreed.

In the centuries following the war, Jewish leaders decided -- following the scripture's guidance "Not by might, and not by force, but by my Spirit" -- to focus on the miracle of the sustaining oil and not on the military shrewdness used to overcome the invaders.

It is for this reason Jews use candles instead of battle paraphernalia to celebrate Hanukkah. Lighting the Hanukkiah, a special nine-stemmed menorah, is the only spiritual requirement of the holiday.

Traditions

To honor the miracle of the tiny drop of oil that lasted eight days, Jews use the Hanukkiah.

This year, the first candles will be lit after sundown Tuesday night. The flames burn for about a half-hour, and the time is meant to be one of quiet reflection. According to tradition, no work should be done while the candles are burning. Jews say prayers and sing songs while lighting the candles.

On the first night of Hanukkah, the Shamash, or guiding candle, is lit first and is then used to ignite the first candle. Jews first light the candle furthest to the right, and proceed to light other candles from right to left as the festival goes on. On each subsequent night, the newest candle is lit first.

Hanukkah candlesticks come in sets of 44, allowing new candles to be lit each night.

In Israel, tradition calls for Jews to eat jelly donuts -- consumed because the sweets are fried in oil, Elkins said.

In Europe and the United States, where potatoes are more readily available, Jews eat grated potato pancakes topped with applesauce or sour cream.

Hanukkah also includes game playing, and the primary -- and most famous -- game is the dreidel, a four-sided spinning top.

The game originally was conceived as a tool to pass on lessons of the Jewish faith, Tatz said. Each of the four letters on the side would refer to a specific recitation or teaching used to educate children.

The Greco-Assyrian occupiers liked it because it was a gambling game -- allowing ancient Jews to hide its real purpose. Modern Jews play with marshmallows, pennies or gelt --gold-wrapped chocolate coins.

The four Hebrew letters on the dreidel, "nun n gimmel n hey n shin," translate to "A great miracle happened there." In Israel, the fourth letter is "peh," which changes the meaning to "A great miracle happened here."

Commercialization

Tatz and Elkins said Hanukkah has become more commercial in the past few decades, thanks to the holiday's proximity to the increasingly commercial celebration of Christmas.

The idea that Hanukkah is simply the Jewish version of Christmas continues to perpetuate, Elkins said. Her two boys have come home from school with tales of friends who want to have Hanukkah -- not become Jewish, but celebrate the holiday -- because of the eight days of gifts.

Though a bit miffed from the ongoing misunderstandings over the holiday, Elkins admits it may be a good thing to have a Jewish celebration close to Christmas.

"If we didn't have something right around Christmas, the Jewish kids would feel really left out," she said.

Reporter Larry Kline: 447-4075 or larry.kline@helenair.com