• At Home - Together - 33 young olim - participants in the Kedma program for Ethiopians living at the Yafit absorption center in Arad - are the guests of the local Lions Club at a gala Chanukah party. The meeting was part of the "At Home - Together" program developed by the Jewish Agency, in conjunction with the Ministry of Immigrant Absorption and the Union of Local Authorities, to help in the absorption of new immigrants by initiating on-going social ties between them and long-time Israelis.

  

• A history of heroism - 1,000 new immigrants who came to Israel on various Jewish Agency various programs for young adults took part in a special program Chanukah program: "In the Footsteps of Fighters." The new arrivals, who come primarily from the FSU, Ethiopia, Latin America, France, and England, live in Jewish Agency absorption centers around the country. They visited sites associated with both modern and ancient acts of heroism, such as Latrun – site of the battle for Jerusalem in the War of Independence - and the graves of the Maccabees.

• The first time - This is the first time that these new immigrant children from Uruguay, Argentina, Ethiopia, and Russia, who now live in the Sapir absorption center in Kiryat Yam, are lighting Chanukah candles! Special workshops in Jewish Agency absorption centers throughout Israel prepared the children for the holiday by teaching about its history, customs, and special foods.

  

• Sharing the fun - New immigrants at the Kalanit absorption center in Ashkelon celebrate Chanukah with children they tutor at after-school centers in the city. The young adults organized the party, which included singing, dancing, and, of course, the traditional Chanukah delicacy, sufganiot.

  

• Chanukah on the airwaves - In honor of Chanukah, the Jewish Agency is broadcasting a special candle-lighting ceremony on the Galei Tzahal radio station from Jewish communities around the world. On each day of Chanukah, the program is broadcast from a different community. Participating countries include: Hungary, South Africa, Venezuela, Turkey, Russia, the United States, Greece and Ukraine.

• Living menorah - The Jewish Agency's Zionist Archives has disclosed this moving picture taken in the 1920s of residents of Jerusalem's Orphans Home for Girls holding Chanukah candles, while themselves forming a "living menorah."

  

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Last Updated December 24, 2003