Jewish students from Sacramento State gathered at the Sacramento Memorial Auditorium Thursday to celebrate the Sacramento Jewish Federation’s community-wide Hanukkah celebration.

Also known as the Festival of Lights, Hanukkah is an eight-day celebration commemorating the victory of the Maccabees, a small Jewish group, over the Syrians in 165 B.C.E., and the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem.

Celebrating the triumph of light over darkness, the rituals of Hanukkah include the lighting of the menorah, a nine-branched candelabrum symbolizing the burning of what was supposed to be only a day’s worth of oil for eight days inside the temple.

The celebration, held a day earlier than the actual start of the holiday, included a banquet dinner, ceremonial lighting of the candles and entertainment from hypnotist Lior Suchard. Enlisting help from audience members, Suchard guessed details about their childhood and love lives.

“Always think happy thoughts,” Suchard told the audience about the power of thinking positively.

Graduate student David Livingston, whose father is Jewish, had never been to a Hanukkah celebration before. He was happy to see the Jewish community gathered and hopes to see more similar events in the future.

“It’s nice to socialize with other people with common beliefs and culture,” Livingston said. “We have a heritage of our own, being Jewish is not only religious, it’s cultural.”

Maiya Chard-Yaron, program director of the Hillel group, which represents the Jewish student body in the Sacramento area, was present to show support for the community.

“It’s so nice that the Sacramento Jewish community could come together for such a beautiful event,” said Chard-Yaron. “We’re a warm Jewish community and it’s nice to have that family feel.”

Chard-Yaron also said the Jewish students attending Sacramento State and other local colleges and universities “really represent a different generation of leadership” that she is proud to help guide.

“Being Jewish is a core part of my identity,” Chard-Yaron said. “I identify very strongly with the Jewish people and it means living a purposeful life.”

Livingston thinks that events like the Hanukkah celebration are helpful for students struggling to identify with their Jewish peers.

“The Jewish student population doesn’t get very well-represented on campus,” Livingston said. “We don’t have enough (social activities) for college-aged Jews, Jewish people need more activities to meet each other.”

Both Chard-Yaron and Livingston said that they are proud of their heritage and try to live a purposeful life through their faith every day.

“Trusting in God, knowing God’s real and being ready to follow God’s word,” Livingston said. “I really walk the walk and talk the talk.”

Julia Baum can be reached at [email protected].