Celebrations underway as Hanukkah begins Sunday night
NEW YORK -- Hanukkah, the Jewish holiday also known as the Festival of Lights, begins Sunday night and lasts for eight days.
CBS2's Lisa Rozner spoke to New Yorkers to find out the unique ways they're celebrating this year.
Growing up in Mexico, ironically, Fan-Fan Doughnuts owner Fany Gerson never celebrated Hanukkah with doughnuts. It wasn't until she moved to Israel that she marked the holiday with the traditional fried food also known as sufganiyot.
Now, she's offering a variety, including a latke doughnut filled with apple butter, topped with sour cream glaze and a potato chip.
"It's a very personal and special moment, and I get to-- people that choose us to be part of their traditions," Gerson said. "When I stop to think about it, the fact that I'm making doughnuts as a Mexican in New York, it's really incredible."
This year, Russ and Daughters, founded by a Polish-Jewish immigrant, asked her to collaborate. Gerson's Bed-Stuy shop will bake three classics for their customers, including a black-and-white doughnut and one with rugelach on top.
"So you think you're going to be churning out, like, thousands of doughnuts a day?" Rozner asked.
"Hopefully," Gerson said, laughing.
The fried doughnuts signify the oil that miraculously kept the menorah lit in the holy temple in Jerusalem for eight days when it was expected to only last for one. The temple was under siege by the Greeks at the time and Judaism was outlawed.
"It's advertising the mitzvah that all those years ago, the Maccabees were successful and the temple was rededicated," said Rabbi Ariel Russo, of Congregation Sons of Israel Nyack.
"When I think of Hanukkah, I think of making latkes with my mom and lighting the Hanukkah candles together," said Julie Smelansky, manager of the 12 Chairs Café.
At the Williamsburg eatery, there's a latke love; a trio of fried potato pancake sandwiches are on the menu during Hanukkah. The fish is from Tel Aviv-born Sherry Herring, which opened on West 72nd Street this year.
"So this one has the majas herring on it with sour cream, onion and chili on top ... This one's going to be our whitefish salad with mixed veggies, lemon ... and then this is the smoked tuna with chipotle and harissa flakes on top," Smelansky said.
Manischewitz is modernizing Hanukkah this year with chocolate it's calling "cryptogelt." Gelt is sometimes synonymous with "tokens" for a game of Dreidel.
At Congregation Sons of Israel Nyack, families are celebrating Sunday with a concert from the men's acapella group Six13.
"The beauty of the holiday is letting people know that we're Jewish and that we're celebrating this openly ... and certainly this year is, is, um, just as applicable with antisemitism on the rise," Russo said.
The UJA-Federation of New York says 1 out of 4 Jews in the United States experiences antisemitism.
In a demonstration of Jewish pride, Monday night, the nonprofit is encouraging people of all faiths and backgrounds to gather with public officials in Times Square as they light the menorah to "shine a light" and dispel the darkness.
Next week, there are several ways to celebrate, even for those who are not Jewish: