MARTINS FERRY — The Festival of Lights may sound familiar to Ohio Valley residents who are accustomed to visiting Oglebay’s Winter Festival of Lights, but a far older tradition is using the phrase to describe the Jewish holiday Hanukkah.

This year, Hanukkah began on Dec. 25 and will end on Jan. 2, marking only the fifth time since 1900 that Hanukkah and Christmas have fallen on the same day.

According to Time Magazine, “The first night of Hanukkah, which begins on the 25th day of the Jewish month Kislev, changes year to year because the Jewish calendar relies on a lunar calendar, based on how long it takes the moon to go around the sun. The lunar calendar is about 354 days long, as opposed to the 365-day solar calendar, which is the time it takes for the Earth to revolve around the sun.”

Hanukkah can begin as early as Thanksgiving, and for eight consecutive nights, members of the Jewish community will gather with family and friends to light one candle in the menorah.

According to Merriam-Webster, “The Hanukkah menorah recalls expulsion by Judah Maccabee of invading forces from the Temple of Jerusalem. Maccabee and his followers sought oil for the temple’s menorah so that the sanctuary could be rededicated, but they found only enough oil for a single day. Miraculously, that tiny amount of oil burned for eight days, until a new supply could be obtained. The Hanukkah menorah includes a candle for each day the oil burned, plus the shammes, a ‘servant candle’ that is used to light the others.”

Temple Shalom in Wheeling is the only Jewish place of worship in the local area. Rabbi Joshua Lief said the temple has served the local community since 1849 and now serves more than just the Upper Ohio Valley due to it being the only congregation in the area stretching between Columbus and Pittsburgh.

“Temple Shalom has been a part of this community for 175 years. We’ve served the entire valley since 1849. We’re honored to be able to keep vibrant Jewish life alive for any who wish,” Lief said.

He added that Temple Shalom has built and maintained great relationships with all of the other religious communities within the surrounding area and is proud to play an active role within the local community.

“Judaism is a tiny minority not only in our community but globally as well, and Hanukkah, interestingly enough, is a story about a minority. It is about the Jews rising up to defend themselves and fight for their freedom against the tide of hellenistic assimilation,” Lief said. “That message still rings true to us today — that it is OK for a minority to continue to exist, that it is not a threat to the majority. We are proud to be who we are, and we are proud to have wonderful relationships with our neighbors who aren’t us.”

He added that his goal is not to convince observers of any other religion to stop believing what they believe in and to convert them to Judaism, but he wants everybody to have the right to be themselves.

“This community has been our home for a very long time, and there have been Jewish families on both sides of the Ohio River who have made profound impacts on the quality of life not only for themselves but for all of their neighbors,” he said.

According to Lief, Hanukkah is more of an at home ritual in which people light the menorah at home while gathering with friends and family to have a meal and exchange presents.

At 6 p.m. Friday, the temple will host a larger observance with attendees bringing their own menorahs so that everyone present will light their menorahs in unison. Following the service, the temple will host a large, festive dinner.

Lief added that because of the Hanukkah story being about the candle’s oil lasting for eight nights, a miracle which led to the Maccabees becoming victorious in fighting for their freedom, the temple offers various foods cooked in oil.

“Foods fried in oil have become the Hanukkah symbolic food, so we’ll have fried chicken, fried potato pancakes, fried jelly donuts and lots of fried food. Because it’s a week-long holiday, there’s always a Friday evening in there somewhere. So every year at temple we do a bigger observance on whatever the Friday night happens to be,” Lief said.