The eight-night feast of Hanukkah started on Christmas day—a special occurrence last witnessed in 2005. Jews across town recollect this “festival of lights” from their formative years
Rina Moses with congregation members last Sunday
You could simply call it our kind of Diwali,” a friend once declared when we were still in school. Indeed, for Judaism globally, Hanukkah—also spelt as Chanukah—is its festival of lights.
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The Jewish month of Kislev (or Chislev), remarkable for the festival of Hanukkah beginning on its 25th day, occurs in line with the Gregorian calendar any time from November 28 to December 27.
This year, the first day of Hanukkah falling on December 25, has coincided with Christmas for only the fifth time since 1900. The last combined occurrence of the two feasts was in 2005.
Noreen Elijah unveils the 2025 JRU centenary logo, designed by Brian (seated beside) and Asma Elijah (standing rightmost)
The Hanukkah tradition of lighting lamps or candles over eight consecutive nights derives from a vital episode of Jewish history—when the community won back Jerusalem’s Second Temple after a band of brave Maccabees successfully revolted against the Greeks around 164 BCE. Rejoicing with a triumphant rededication ceremony on defeating Antiochus IV Epiphanes of the Seleucid empire, they found there was olive oil enough to light the wick of the menorah lampstand for just a single night.
Dismay gave way to astonishment when, instead, the pure oil lasted eight entire nights.
To commemorate that miracle, Jewish families and friends still light the nine-branched Hanukkah menorah candelabrum for eight consecutive nights. The main flame—a “starter” at the centre, called shamash (“attendant”), on either side of which are four upturned branches—is lit the first evening. It in turn illuminates the second lamp, and so on. Each night a fresh arm of the menorah glows, till nine flames flicker strong on the eighth.
A menorah fitted with oil lamps instead of candles
Descendants of the Maccabee family, the Hasmonean dynasty extended from 140 to 37 BCE. In an article titled “Why Hanukkah became such a big deal”, Rabbi Dr Zev Farber has written: “The symbolic lighting of candles mimics a ritual act in the Temple but, at the same time, the festival’s significance lies in how it marks the beginning of Judean political independence under the Hasmoneans. This achievement should not be minimised.”
Jews covering the spectrum from Reform to Conservative to Orthodox believe in the transformative effect of bringing light into darkness. A household typically places the menorah to be seen from the outside, in a doorway or on a windowsill, emblematic of casting good energy.
Born in Raipur and brought up all over the Central Provinces, where her father was a civil surgeon (having attended to Gandhiji too in Wardha), Ruth Crishna says, “We lit a lovely brass lamp with a few prayers. Then we were more interested in the gifts! Throughout my dad’s postings, we were the only Jewish family. Coming to Bombay, we lived in Santa Cruz and went to the Parel synagogue where my father’s brother was the cantor, or hazzan, who led the congregation reading prayers. But Hanukkah was marked mostly at home. After dad passed, my mother joined the reformist JRU (Jewish Religious Union) formed by her cousin Dr Jerusha Jhirad in 1925.”
Traditional oil lamps glow in the Beth El synagogue at Panvel
Besides importantly encouraging English translations of Hebrew prayers, the JRU embraces the practice of Bat Mitzvah, the female equivalent of Bar Mitzvah, initiating members to the fold, and recognises women rabbis as well. Crishna was active in the Youth Group and her mother was in the Sisterhood, the ladies’ sub-committee organising fundraisers, fetes and excursions.
Ezra Moses has said, in The Reform Jewish Movement in India, “Much to contrary belief, the JRU did not cater to any specific group of Jewish people in the city. It was coincidental that the majority joining was Bene Israel and not Iraqi/Baghdadi Jews.” The Bene Israel (literally, “Children of Israel”) are descendants of survivors shipwrecked off the Konkan coast about 2,000 years ago, after the destruction of the Second Temple of Jerusalem. Baghdadi Jews settled in 19th-century India, while the oldest surviving documents, including a merchant’s charter, of Cochin Jews date to 1000 CE.
Progressive circles abroad and the Sassoon trusts were at the forefront of benefactors enabling the JRU to obtain the Rodef Shalom synagogue premises in Byculla. Burning down in the 1993 riots, this iconic structure lost invaluable Torah scrolls and volumes of religious text it housed in what was considered one of the finest collections of Jewish literature.
Hanukkah at Bayiti: (Third from left) 1920s-30s Hindi actress Susan Solomon, whose screen name was Firoza, spent her last days in this home for the aged
“Living nearby on Sussex Road (presently Dadoji Kondev Marg), my family prayed at this synagogue,” says Elijah Jacob, Honorary Secretary of the JRU Services Committee. He shares a photograph of the beautiful building where Rodef Shalom occupied the third floor.
Earlier concentrated in neighbourhoods like Mazagaon, Byculla, Sandhurst Road, Dongri and Jacob Circle, the Jewish community spread in Thane towards the end of the 19th century. The need for their own site of worship here resulted in the Shaar Hashamaim (“Gate of Heaven”) synagogue opening in December 1879 during Hanukkah. It now has a robust number of about 1,500 members.
“As we were in Malad when I was a child, my family travelled the distance to the Magen Hassidim synagogue at Agripada. The hour-long train journey was all right for Hanukkah but far for daily prayers. Shifting to Thane was perfect,” says Samuel Daniel, a former trustee and current president of the Thane synagogue which observed its 145th anniversary last Sunday.
Debbie Kanga lights the menorah in her Toronto home, with the festive Christmas tree behind
His son Ronen, a regular at Shaar Hashamaim for over 30 years, was fascinated as a two-year-old by his grandfather’s rendition of passages from the Torah. “After my Bar Mitzvah, I listened to sermons on Saturday and readings from the original ancient Hebrew. Every day of Chanukah we recite the complete Hallel sequence of gratitude-themed psalms.”
Ronen describes the Chanukah game of dreidel, a throwback to the time King Antiochus’ armies controlled the Holy Land. His powerful regime outlawed study of the Torah, forcing young Jews to resort to “underground” learning. Children did this in outlying forest areas. Ever alert, in case of a Greek patrol passing, they quickly pulled out small tops to pretend-play with.
Thane resident Ezra Moses (not the gentleman of the same name quoted earlier) offers, “Hanukkah has usually been more of a private celebration and, looking to the situation around the world, quieter both at home and in synagogues today. Menorahs which are not fitted with candles but with glass jars containing coconut oil, sometimes also have bright colours added to the water base.”
Rina Rebello, nee Moses, from Bandra, says, “We visited my grandfather in Byculla (MA Moses and his wife Sheba, followed by their son Abraham, ran the popular Our Musical Salon on Clare Road) every Friday for prayers. For Hanukkah we would light the menorah and have a nice meal of chicken curry rice.”
As the oil had burned on so long, foods fried in cooking oil are an essential part of this extended week. Fried chicken, kanda bhaji and potato pancakes are dishes families eat together, with sweet rice cooked with ghee, cashews and saffron. Solomon Sopher, president of the Keneseth Eliyahoo Synagogue in Kala Ghoda and head of the city’s Baghdadi Jews, has confessed to enjoying a personal favourite treat of deep-fried wheat donuts topped with jam or jelly.
Rina readies for a programme to unveil the logo announcing a century of the JRU this year, at the Podar ORT School in Worli, on the same day the Shaar Hashamaim marks its milestone anniversary in Thane. Meanwhile, her pianist daughter, Salome Rebello, shares memories from Germany, where she is an acclaimed choral conductor and music educator—“We celebrated Hanukkah in our Chuim village home in Bandra. The lighting of the candles at sunset involved saying a blessing and wishing each other.
Sometimes a close friend, interested in what we were doing, came to see what it was. The lighting didn’t last more than 10 to 15 minutes. Yet it was always cute because most often this happened while our tiny living room was also decorated fully for Christmas with the tree and trappings.”
In the US, Jewish families have been known to dress a Hannukah bush. Not a widely serious practice, this display for the duration of Hanukkah and Christmas may be Star of David-themed rather than stringing conventional Xmas tree decorations.
“Though individual homes have varying degrees of observance, in my memory Hannukah was not a major festival among the Bene Israel,” recalls Dr Arun Gadre, a surgeon settled in Pennsylvania, who grew up in Sarah Lodge situated on the mid-point periphery of Shivaji Park. “In our grandparents’ home they would light the menorah and my grandfather said prayers in Hebrew.
As children we never understood them but were told of their divine significance. The food our grandmother made was really delicious. We waited for sweets like
suterfeni bought from Dayaram Damodar at Dadar TT’s Khodadad Circle. But the amazing halwa she prepared in her own kitchen involved a whole lot of stirring. And, of course, best were attractive little gifts waiting for all the kids.”
Whatever the local customs governing various members of the community, they all bear in mind the basic exhortation: one who sees a Hanukkah light should recite a blessing. A poignant tribute to a miracle of faith two millennia ago.
Author-publisher Meher Marfatia writes fortnightly on everything that makes her love Mumbai and adore Bombay. You can reach her at meher.marfatia@mid-day.com/www.meher marfatia.com
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