Celebrating Chanukah at USD

Students discuss the realities of celebrating Jewish holidays at a Catholic-majority university

Emma Goodman-Fish/Asst. Feature Editor/The USD Vista

On the first night of Chanukah his first year of college, Joshua Glasser took the menorah his dad gave him, brought a few candles, and began to light the candles on the sidewalk outside his first-year dorm in Missions B. When a Resident Assistant (RA) arrived on the scene, she walked past, asked what he was doing, and blew the candles out, the reason being USD strictly prohibits burning candles on campus.

Glasser wasn’t defeated by this, and continued to celebrate Chanukah for the rest of the 8 nights. Today, Glasser is the president of USD’s Jewish Student Union, called Hillel, and has begun planning for Chanukah this year, which began the night of Dec. 2.

“The biggest part of Chanukah is to have people together,” Glasser, now a sophomore, said. “We want to create unity.”

Glasser shared how celebrating Chanukah on a college campus, especially a Catholic one can be difficult, yet is still important to him. Since USD is a Catholic school, the schedule is organized around Christmas, rather than Chanukah, so most years, Jewish students celebrate Chanukah while at school, and often away from their families and hometowns.

Chanukah is not the most  religiously-important Jewish holiday. The high holy days of Judaism are Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah. However, Chanukah holds a very special place for many Jewish families and individuals.

“It is a very important cultural piece, it talks about the concept of oppression,” Glasser said.
“It really shows the importance of being able to stand up for what you believe in and to be able to stand up for our identity.”

Glasser noted that history tends to repeat itself, and being reminded of the oppression faced in the past brings Jews together. On campus, Glasser has plans to create a recyclable menorah in order to bring Jewish students together and still celebrate when they are away from home and their families. Chanukah is a very family-centered holiday, similar to Christmas, and can be hard to celebrate alone, Glasser mentioned.

Glasser grew up playing dreidel, a spinning top with Hebrew letters on it, and making Latkes, a traditional Chanukah meal, while lighting the menorah each year. Menorah is Hebrew for “lamp” and serves to represent the menorah that Jews lit in the second century BCE, in which the oil miraculously burned for eight nights instead of one.

Sophomore Marcos Saade shares the same kind of memories of Chanukah that Glasser does.

“Chanukah, to me, means a time I get to be able to spend with my family,” Saade said. “It is a happy time, and lighting the menorah is something very meaningful to me that I look forward to every year.”

While celebrating at the university isn’t the same as it was growing up, Saade has found a new community at USD. Saade, along with other students in Hillel, has a dinner with students which includes Chanukah-related food and a lighting of the menorah together each year. The students are welcome to invite other friends as well, both Jewish and non-Jewish. Some Jewish students have found they are supported by their friends outside of the Jewish community at USD, even though it is a Catholic-majority school. Nina Schneider, a junior from Chatsworth, California, shared her experience.

“I celebrate with my friends who are not Jewish,” said Schneider. “They are interested and support me in celebration.”

Chatsworth has found a community of people who will engage with her in her religious celebrations, like Chanukah, which helps make USD feel like home.

While the traditions of Chanukah and other Jewish religious celebrations are clearly different from Catholic holidays, some students still believe that similarities can be found between the two religions. Jewish students are often asked by others why they would choose to attend a Catholic school, and Glasser has found connections between the religions and found strength in his own beliefs at USD.

“The set of values is very similar, which has made things easier for me and made it possible to get close with the other students here,” Glasser noted.

Saade, who is a friend of Glasser’s, sees the similarities yet is also observant of the differences on campus.

“It’s interesting celebrating Chanukah on a Catholic campus because it’s not as apparent that it’s Chanukah when you don’t see Chanukah-related stuff all over (campus),” said Saade. “It’s also interesting to be on a campus that isn’t just Jewish, which relates to the past and opening up to learn about other people’s traditions.”

Celebrating a family-oriented holiday away from home in a place that focuses on a completely different holiday has its challenges. However, some Jewish students at USD have also found their community and strength within their unity, as Jews have done throughout history. They continue to celebrate holidays and traditions that are important to them no matter how far from home they are.