Jewish Feast of Lights

The local Jewish community will be marking Chanukah, the Feast of Lights, this month, and the Jewish Congregation of Marco Island invites neighbors of all faiths to be part of the celebration.

The annual South Collier County Community Chanukah celebration, which the Congregation co-sponsors with Jewish Federation of Greater Naples, convenes this year at 5:30 PM on the afternoon of Sunday, December 18 to inaugurate the eight-day holiday.  Featured will be greetings from local dignitaries, the lighting of a giant outdoor m’norah, and seasonal treats in honor of the occasion.

On the ensuing Friday, December 23, worshippers are invited to bring their own household m’norah (and seven candles) to the Synagogue to take part in the “parade of lights” that will inaugurate Sabbath worship at 7:30 PM, and to enjoy a special holiday-themed ‘Oneg-Shabbat coffee hour following services. 

Chanukah commemorates the occasion, 2,185 years ago this month, when the Jerusalem Temple—which the Seleucid emperor Antiochus had turned into a shrine to Olympian Zeus— was recovered by the Jewish people and rededicated to God.  As Rabbi Mark Gross of the Jewish Congregation of Marco Island explains it, “this long ago struggle of one people to assert their own culture and their own faith serves every year as an inspirational reminder that the diversity of a pluralistic society is something to defend, respect, and celebrate.”

Jewish Congregation of Marco Island is located at 991 Winterberry Drive, a block east of South Collier Boulevard.  Overflow parking for these special events is furnished through the courtesy of the Art League, directly across Winterberry from the Synagogue. For more details about these Chanukah events, contact the JCMI Office at 239-642-0800.