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San Antonio's Jewish and Catholic communities gather for Hanukkah observance

A menorah lit by members of San Antonio's Jewish and Catholic communities sits in San Fernando Hall after a Celebrate Hanukkah luncheon on Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024.
Joey Palacios
/
TPR
A menorah lit by members of San Antonio's Jewish and Catholic communities sits in San Fernando Hall after a Celebrate Hanukkah luncheon on Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024.

The first night of Hanukkah begins on Christmas Day this year, starting the eight evenings known as the Festival of Lights.

This is the 23rd year that San Antonio-area Catholics and Jews have jointly celebrated the Jewish holiday which changes dates each year based on the Hebrew calendar. Thursday’s commemoration included an interfaith menorah lighting at San Fernando Hall, a block away from San Fernando Cathedral. The menorah itself was provided by Temple Beth-El.

The temple’s Rabbi Mara Nathan said she was inspired by the turnout at the ceremony, which was completely sold out.

"It's really important that we all get to celebrate the winter holidays together, and it's really lovely that the Catholic community embraces on our holiday on our behalf because we're a pretty small group in the city of San Antonio."

Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller said this Hanukkah ceremony is a tradition he looks forward to each year.

"And it's about light. And we need light to see. To get warm. To love,” he said.

The ceremony consisted of a member of the Catholic community and Jewish community lighting each of the eight candles as a sign of unity.

Joey Palacios
/
TPR
Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller and Rabbi Mara Nathan

“There are a lot of different kinds of Christmas celebrations that go on across the city, the country and the world at this time of year,” Nathan said. “We may have a nice footprint in San Antonio, but we are a relatively small community, so to have a
Hanukkah celebration that is hosted by the Catholic Church — this is not the Hanukkah/Christmas celebration. It’s just Hanukkah — it feels like the Catholic community is being very respectful towards the Jewish traditions.”

The luncheon featured a jelly donut for dessert — a modernized way of serving food fried with oil, which is a staple of Hanukkah table settings, to commemorate the oil used in the original story. It lasted eight days in the Temple of Jerusalem.

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Joey Palacios can be reached atJoey@TPR.org and on Twitter at @Joeycules