Prairiefire to Host Nightly Menorah Lighting for Hanukkah

Just in time for Hanukkah, Prairiefire is installing a large menorah (Hannukiah) by the fire pit near Pinstripes to celebrate the Jewish holiday with Eight Bright Nights at Prairiefire.

Each night of Hanukkah, which begins this Saturday night, Dec. 24, a candle-lighting ceremony will take place at 5 p.m. (*NOTE" on Dec. 24 and 31, the menorah lighting will take place at 6 p.m. due to the Jewish Sabbath). This was made possible through the efforts of the Prairiefire and the Jewish Community Center of Greater Kansas City on behalf of the Jewish community.

Members of several Jewish community organizations and congregations will take part in the candle lighting including Congregations Beth Torah and B'nai Jehudah, BBYO and Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy, Kansas City's only Jewish day school. The communal menorah lighting continues through the eighth night of Hanukkah, on Dec. 31. The community is invited to attend any and all of the ceremonies.

Hanukkah (dedication in Hebrew) is a religiously minor but culturally very important holiday. It celebrates the victory of a band of Jewish zealots over a much larger Syrian- Greek army, over 2,000 years ago. The Jews regained their holiest site, the Temple in Jerusalem, and re-dedicated it to Jewish worship. Jewish tradition holds that during the process of cleaning the Temple, a portion of oil, necessary for the re-dedication, was found, and burned miraculously, for eight days. It is a celebration of the liberation over oppression and the importance of religious freedom.

Today, Jewish people celebrate Hanukkah for eight nights, lighting a nine-branched candelabra called a hanukkiah. It holds one branch for each night of Hanukkah, and one for the candle that lights all the others, called the "shamas" or helper candle.