Members of Temple Israel of Riverhead marked the beginning of Hanukkah with a community menorah lighting on the Peconic Riverfront.
Rabbi Michael Roscoe led a brief service and lit the first light on the menorah.
Hanukkah, also known as the Festival of Lights, commemorates the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem in the second century BCE, after a small army led by Judah the Maccabee drove the Greeks from Israel and reclaimed the temple. When they lit the temple’s menorah — a candelabra — they found only a one-day supply of olive oil that had not been contaminated by the Greeks. Miraculously, that one-day supply of oil lasted eight days, until a new supply of ritually pure oil could be prepared.
Every night during the eight-day holiday, a menorah is lit to commemorate the holiday. The menorah holds nine flames, one of which is the shamash (“attendant”), which is used to kindle the other eight lights. On the first night, the shamash is used to light one flame. On the second night, an additional flame is lit. By the eighth night, all eight flames are lit.
Hanukkah continues through Dec. 30.
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