By Rachel Olsen
Unlike most of her neighbors in Utah, Lois Spiegel will have eight days of presents instead of one.
Instead of lighting the Christmas tree, Spiegel will the light the Hanukiyah, the Hanukkah menorah.
Hanukkah starts Dec. 10, and Utah has several Jews who celebrate this holy occasion. According to the Jewish Virtual Library, a division of The American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprises, 4,500 residents in Utah are Jewish, comprising 0.2 percent of the population.
Celebrating a minority holiday in a Christian-dominated state could be viewed as complicated.
However, Spiegel has lived in Utah for 22 years. She says celebrating Hanukkah is not difficult.
“Really, it”s not a problem. All these years of celebrating Hanukkah I have always felt a part of the community,” Spiegel said.
To kick off the Hanukkah season in Utah, the Wagner Jewish Community Center threw their annual Jewish Arts Festival.
As a Hanukkah bazaar, there was art, dancing, music, traditional Jewish gifts and food, said Deborah Kesner-Steinberg, adult and Jewish program director for the Wagner Jewish Community Center.
“Every holiday we have a celebration, and this Hanukkah we really want to get the community involved, to get people to know about Jewish arts,” Kesner-Steinberg said.
Reaching out to the community is exactly what they do. Pam Richards, a Utah resident, knows about this.
Recently converting from Christianity to Judaism, Richards started by becoming involved in Hadassah, a non-profit organization, 10 years ago.
This will be the first year Richards will celebrate Hanukkah in her home.
“Christmas day my husband and I will serve with the homeless,” Richards said.”The next day we will have a holiday celebration in our home for our children and grandchildren.”
Although Richards has never celebrated Hanukkah in her home before, she has found Utah to be a little stifling toward other religions.
“It is hard finding acceptance of everyone, where people can be people,” Richards said.
However, it is exactly this acceptance that Arit Woolf, 21, a senior majoring in theatre education from Colorado Springs, Col., enjoys about Utah.
Born on a kibbutz in Israel, Woolf was raised Jewish, celebrating the traditional holidays.
Converting from Judaism to Christianity, Woolf now celebrates Christmas. However, she finds people to still be interested in her Jewish heritage.
“People are usually fascinated with the fact that I am Jewish. They ask all sorts of questions, trying to find out about it,” Woolf said.
“I remember while growing up that other kids were jealous of the fact that I got eight days of presents. Really, it wasn”t that much,” Woolf said.
“I wish I still recognized Hanukkah, at least by lighting the candles and remembering the miracle,” she said.
