Roving Rabbis celebrate Hanukkah with Amarillo to raise awareness

A group of six students known as the "Roving Rabbis" had a menorah lighting ceremony at the Westgate Mall Thursday evening in Amarillo, to celebrate the eight days of Hanukkah and promote it.

The tour, which has traveled across Utah, Colorado and Texas to celebrate Hanukkah with various cities across these states, is composed of Rabbinical students spreading the tradition of Hanukkah with all who attend. Traveling to all these destinations in an RV proclaimed by the six students as the “Mitzvah Tank,” a synagogue on wheels, the Rabbis help communities that may not have many opportunities for public menorah lighting.

More:Traveling rabbis celebrate spreading of light with 'Roving Rabbis' Hanukkah Menorah lighting

At the Amarillo ceremony, Rabbi Mendy Hirsch spoke about the history of the menorah lighting, which commemorated the Jewish rebellion by the Maccabees against the Greeks that would not let them openly practice their religion, and how the miracle of the Hanukkah Menorah was kept burning for eight days with only a day’s supply of oil.

During the ceremony, Hirsch spoke about the lights of the menorah and how it relates to our everyday struggle.

“Each one of us has the spark of God within us," Hirsch said during the ceremony. "We all have our menorah, we all have our light, and the goal that we came here tonight for is to ignite that light, to make sure that light is revealed, to make sure we have that light, and that light stays with us."

Hirsch continued: “We know that when we have a candle in a dark room, if you light even one candle, the entire room gets lit up. The same is with our soul, with our godliness. When we add in light and awaken our neshama, our inner soul, the light of God inside us that lights up our surroundings, that helps us through our challenges, that is how we celebrate Hanukkah.”

Hirsch explained to the crowd that the true light was within us all, and that our mission was to light up the darkness in the world.

Following these words, the first candle of the menorah, known as the shamash or helper candle, was lit and used to light the other candles in the celebration.

“We basically travel out to different communities where there are no Chabad centers or religious organization that has these Hanukkah type events and help people in those areas celebrate, especially in more rural or suburb areas,” Hirsch said. “We want to have something in the open for a larger event for people that may not have that opportunity.”

Hirsch said that, to his knowledge, this was the first public menorah lighting in the city of Amarillo.

“We go out from community to community, spreading light, and the idea is to go out to these towns where there is not much of a Jewish population and to come out to put out a nice public event for Hanukkah," Hirsch said. "We believe that shining this light and displaying Jewish pride in the open, that will push away a lot of the darkness and the antisemitism that exists in this world. A room with no light in will take only a small match or candle to light up the entire room.”

Hirsch said that with the recent rise in antisemitism, the story of Hanukkah becomes even more important to overcome these types of sentiments. He said that events like this let others of the Jewish faith be more confident in the public practice of their faith.

“Be proud of being Jewish, and celebrate it openly. Celebrate this miracle, and thank God for all the miracles he constantly does for us," Hirsch said.

Hirsch stressed the importance of showing the strength of your faith for others to see, especially during Hanukkah.

“The Amarillo community came out beautifully to celebrate Hanukkah together with us, “Hirsch added.

This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Roving Rabbis celebrate Jewish holiday Hanukkah with Amarillo