Hillel Chanukah Project: Spreading Joy and Light in the Former Soviet Union

After generations of repression that robbed Jews of the most basic knowledge of Jewish holidays, Chanukah’s message of freedom resonates particularly strongly among Jewish college students. The JDC/Hillel  "Chanukah Project" trains Hillel students in the history, rituals and stories of Chanukah so they can spread the holiday’s message of freedom to Jews throughout the FSU. 

In November 2002, over 350 students from Russia, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Georgia, Armenia, Ukraine, Moldova and Belarus participated in "Pre-Chanukah Training Seminars", where they learned how to lead Chanukah celebrations in their communities.  And as the holiday began, they spread out to their assigned cities and outlying villages and shtetls to spread the joy of the holiday. 

Last year, some 20,000 participants, of all ages, were reached.  It is anticipated that numbers of participants in this year’s holiday programming will exceed those of last year. 

Now in its fourth year, the Chanukah Project has given hundreds of students the tools needed to relay the traditions, melodies, tastes and rituals of the holiday.  

One participant, whose daughter brought her to a ceremony, poignantly explained the significance of her experience to the Hillel students: "Looking at all of you, I regret that I did not know what you know at your age.  We could not even talk about celebrating Chanukah then.  And it is only now that I am learning about the holiday." 

The types of celebrations led by these students varied as greatly as the ages of the events’ participants: dreidl spinning and gelt-giving for kindergarteners, discos for teenagers, lectures for adults and festive meals for homebound elderly were among the ways the holiday was marked with help of the students. In small villages and in large cities alike, celebrations were held throughout the entire eight days of the holiday. 

Festivities made a lasting impression on all the participants. One Hillel student recounted his experience in a kindergarten:  "The joy in the children’s eyes when they looked at the lit candles, their pleasure in receiving Chanukah gelt, and their active participation in the activities – this made a lasting impression on them and me." 

In another event, one group of elderly even made a pledge: "They asked us to leave Hillel Chanukah guidebooks so they could learn all the tunes and words in order to sing them together next year!" 

One of last year’s program highlights was a community gathering in Kharkov, Ukraine for the lighting of the sixth candle on the anniversary of the day that the Jews were ordered to relocate to the city’s ghetto during World War II.  After hearing recollections of this period, including a first hand account by a Righteous Gentile, Kharkov Hillel students visited former ghetto inhabitants and concentration camp viuctims in their homes, and helped them celebrate the holiday with candle lighting and songs.

The festivities have proven to be as meaningful for the Hillel students as for the participants in their programs.  Explained one student from the former Soviet Republic of Moldova after last year’s experience: "Now, after the Chanukah week, I feel that a new light has been lit in my soul.  And it was a result of our work."