BENTONVILLE - To celebrate Hanukkah, which officially begins at sundown Sunday, the Etz Chaim congregation in Bentonville met in front of the Benton County Courthouse to publicly light the menorah.
Leigh Mercado of Houston, Texas, did not want to miss the ceremony with her five grandchildren from Rogers.
"Hanukkah is fun. We get to see our family and play games and eat lots of good food," said Sophia Hoodias, 9, one of Mercado's grandchildren.
This year marked the fifth year for the congregation to publicly light the menorah on the Bentonville Square, and as a crowd of around 40 people looked on, the lights of the menorah began to sparkle as the congregation joined together in song.
In 167 B.C.E. (before the common era), Israel was conquered by the Greeks, which led to a revolt and subsequent retaking of Israel and Jerusalem. To celebrate the unity of Israel and Jerusalem, the Great Temple in Jerusalem was rededicated and the menorah there was re-lit, said Jack Zanerhaft, the rabbi at Etz Chaim.
When the menorah was re-lit, there was only enough olive oil for it to burn for a single day, but that little bit of oil lasted eight days, Zanerhaft said.
Hanukkah celebrates that miracle of light.
"It is really about second chances. It is about bringing light to the middle of the winter when it is the darkest," Zanerhaft said, "It is really a symbol of hope. If you never give up, you are never defeated."
Lighting the menorah on the Bentonville Square is also important to members of the congregation because it provides them with a sense of community, said Tom Douglass, president of the congregation.
Hanukkah is the holiday of lights, Douglass said, noting that a menorah placed in a window is a symbol of freedom - freedom to practice religion, to read and to educate children - freedoms that the Jewish people did not have when the lights of the menorah were extinguished by the Syrian army in 167 B.C.E.
Following the menorah lighting, Etz Chaim, at the corner of Moberly Lane and East Central Avenue, held a formal service and a potluck dinner, coined "pot latke" by the congregation as a play on words for the latkes - fried potato pancakes - served during Hanukkah.