Shoreline Menorah lighting

Deputy Mayor Doris McConnell welcomes
the crowd. Rabbi Davidoff is on the right.
Photo by Cynthia Sheridan

In spite of cold and rain, a large crowd gathered on the steps of Shoreline's City Hall on Sunday evening to witness the lighting of the menorah by Rabbi Sadya Davidoff of Chabad of Shoreline.

People gathered early for the ceremony, which marks the start of Hanukkah.

First, the Shamash, the servant candle is lit. 

The shamash is used to lit one candle, for the first night. Each night an additional candle is lit.

Hanukkah is a Jewish festival commemorating the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire, 167-160 BCE (before common era).

Buffet in the lobby
Photo by Cynthia Sheridan

After the Temple in Jerusalem was recaptured, only one jar of undefiled oil was found, enough to burn for only one day, but it lasted miraculously for eight.

So eight candles are lit, over eight days, in a ceremony over two thousand years old.

After the lighting, people gathered in the lobby for food, donuts, and latkes.