Hanukkah celebrations begin for Jewish community

Joint faith celebrations are taking place across Wales as the first day of Hanukkah falls on the same day as Christmas.

Hanukkah - Chanukah in Hebrew - is celebrated for eight days in November or December every year, with dates changing as a result of the lunar calendar followed by Jewish people.

This year the traditional lighting of the Hanukiah, a nine-stemmed candelabrum, starts after nightfall on 25 December and ends on 2 January.

Hanukkah last fell on the same day as Christmas in 2005 and has only happened four times in the past century.

For 11-year old Beti, from Cardiff, this is the first time she will celebrate Hanukkah and Christmas on the same day.

"I find it very exciting because my friends aren't Jewish, they all celebrate Christmas," she said.

"This year we can relate to more things because it's at the same time."

During Hanukkah families often come together, give each other chocolate or Hanukkah money called Gelt. Some families give a small present to children on each of the eight nights of Hanukkah.

Beti grew up in a multi-faith family and Hanukkah is one of her favourite celebrations.

She also goes to church with her dad's relatives and likes getting "to see both worlds and experience them both".

"We love to come together as a family, celebrate, play games and eat all the food.

"As a tradition you're meant to eat oily foods to remember the oil so we have doughnuts and latkas - similar to hash browns - but I would say yummier."

• Hanukkah - dedication in Hebrew - is the Jewish Festival of Lights
• It celebrates a miracle they believe happened in Jerusalem more than 2,000 years ago when a group of Jews called the Maccabees won a three-year war against the Greek Emperor Antiochus, who banned them from worshipping God
• When the Jews went back to their temple, they saw it had nearly been destroyed but found and relit a lamp to dedicate the temple back to God
• The one small jar of oil was only enough for one day, but stayed alight for eight days, which is why Jews light a candle every day of Hanukkah
• The Hanukiah symbolises how God looked after the Jewish people during a difficult time

Author and artist Rebecca Wilson, who grew up in Gwynedd with a Jewish mother and Christian father, celebrates Hanukkah and Christmas.

As a child she would go to church with her family and then turn to Jewish traditions at home, adding that her parents were always "accepting of each other".

"That's what's gonna happen this year. We'll eat a Christmas turkey and then we'll light Hanukkah candles."

Aside from the delicious food and family fun, Rebecca said her celebrations were an opportunity to pray for the "miracle of peace, hope and light in a dark time".

She hopes that with Christmas and Hanukkah falling at the same time, people will learn more about the lunar calendar and the changeable dates of Hanukkah.

"It is rare," explains Norma Glass, a member of the Jewish Community in Swansea.

"This year magically it's arriving on Christmas Day so it's lovely that both Christians and Jews are able to celebrate together miracles that have happened in their respective histories."

For Norma it is a chance to bring communities together and reach better understanding among each other.

"Growing up as a child people used to say to me 'what are you having for Christmas?' But of course I didn't have Christmas so I used to tell a little lie and tell them what I was hoping to have for my birthday."

This year though she said it was a chance for everyone to share what they are hoping to have together and find the similarities in religions, sharing "the gift of light in the darkness".