Grand Menorah Lighting Dec. 28 at Palmer Train Depot

PALMER — Celebrating a year-and-a-half in the Valley, the Mat-Su Jewish Center will hold its grand menorah lighting tonight at the 9-foot menorah that’s been up in downtown Palmer since last Wednesday.

At 5:30 p.m., at the Palmer Train Depot, the menorah will be lit in a festival joined by the mayors of Palmer and Wasilla, a performance by the Mat-Su Orchestra, and a performance retelling the story of Hanukkah, put on by the Mat-Su Jewish Kids Club.

Chaya Greenberg, the wife of the Mat-Su chapter’s Rabbi Mendy Greenberg, runs the children’s program. She said the five youngsters performing have been working at the presentation for some time.

“They’re actually dressing up in different characters, and as objects,” she said. “They’ll walk down the runway in costumes and narrate their message in an easy, fun way to sort of capture the message of Hanukkah. Then there will be a short performance singing Hanukkah songs.”

The Hanukkah, or festival of lights tradition is probably the best known Jewish holiday outside the Jewish community. It recounts the story of the rededication of the Holy Temple, which came to be in spite of the persecution of Syrian ruler Antiochus, who all but forbade Jewish ritual in 167 B.C.

With the oil necessary to burn the menorah in the temple a scarce commodity, the one night’s worth of oil a small group of Maccabees could find managed to last eight nights. This is the miracle of Hanukkah.

Rabbi Greenberg said the message behind Hanukkah goes beyond religious tradition and applies to people of all faiths.

“Their belief and faith proved that goodness and light will always prevail,” Greenberg said. “Sometimes we live in a world where it seems like there’s only dark and evil, but we have to keep increasing in the light. The message of Hanukkah for all humanity is that we don’t chase away the darkness with brooms and sticks… it’s focusing on the issue. One candle in a dark room can give off a lot of light.”

This year’s Hanukkah marks 75 years since Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, a Holocaust survivor, came to America and introduced public ceremonies like these beginning in 1973. Tonight’s event in Palmer is one of more than 15,000 across the nation and in 90 countries.

Last year’s first celebration in the Mat-Su Valley at Wasilla Lake exceeded even Greenberg’s expectation, as more than 300 people showed up, including prominent community members and leaders.

“God willing, we’re hoping to have a nice turnout,” Greenberg said.

It wouldn’t be a festival without food, and tonight’s includes a full Israeli-style buffet with falafel, hummus and a make-your-own doughnut station.

Guests will also be invited to build their own wooden dreidel’s and play a game.

For more information, call the Mat-Su Jewish Center at (907) 350-1787.