As 2025 approaches, scores of residents across Orange County are celebrating a host of religious and cultural holidays either by putting up Christmas lights or lighting a candle on a daily basis.
For some, the flicker of the candle’s flame represents hope in a time of darkness and religious freedom.
For some, the light represents unity.
And for others, it represents bringing a positive change to the world.
These illuminations are the result of menorahs lit for Hanukkah, Kinaras for Kwanzaa and a series of lights outside many homes as part of the celebrations of Christmas.
The lights come at the end of 2024 – a year that saw the county rocked by another corruption scandal, cities upping efforts to crackdown against homeless camps and an uptick in rents, hunger and child homelessness across OC.
Hanukkah – a Festival of Lights
Jewish congregations across Orange County celebrated the start of Hanukkah this week.
The eight nights of Hanukkah, commemorates the story of the Maccabees who stood up against the Seleucids’ oppression and their ban on Judaism in Jerusalem thousands of years ago.
When the Jewish people defeated the Greek empire also known as the Seleucids, they took back the Second Temple of Jerusalem and had only enough oil to light a candle for one night but the candle miraculously burned for eight, according to the Talmud – one of Judaism’s central texts.
[Read: OC Jewish Community Celebrates Hanukkah – a Festival of Lights]
As part of the celebration, Jewish people light a multi-branch candle holder called a menorah every night of Hanukkah to memorialize the miracle.
“The most important part of Hanukkah is lighting the menorah, and you’re supposed to actually put it in your windowsill to publicize the miracle,” said Rabbi Nancy Myers of Temple Beth David.
Founding Rabbi Emeritus Stephen Einstein of Congregation B’nai Tzedek in Fountain Valley said the menorah is a way to bring light to a dark world.
“We are living sadly in a very dark time. We see our country very divided. People can’t speak civilly to one another. We’re very concerned about what may be coming in this country right now and so on,” he said.
“We can either despair, or turn to hope and create light and brightness and warmth for each other and do the best we can to keep our country light and bright, even though the times seem so dark.”
Einstein emphasized that it’s important to separate history from legend and noted that there’s no reference to “the miracle” – the oil – in the Books of Maccabees, accounts detailing the revolt and rededication that are not in the Tanakh, the Hebrew bible.
“There’s a historical part of the Hanukkah story, and then there’s the legendary part,” he said. “Sometimes people think that the legendary part is what the holiday was really all about.”
The holiday of Hanukkah is a minor Jewish holiday. It gets a lot of press because of its proximity to Christmas but it’s one Jewish holiday that’s not even in our Bible,” said Myers.
“Hanukkah actually has some real history to it, verifiable history, but it’s a complicated holiday. The lighting of the menorah comes from a story mentioned in the Talmud hundreds of years later,” Myers said. “Hanukkah itself celebrates a military victory led by the Maccabees against the Seleucids, and they were fighting for independence, for religious freedom and to be free from persecution.”
For most Jewish communities, Myers added Passover, Rosh Hashanna and Yom Kippur are more recognized holidays.
Christmas
This year, Hanukkah started the same day as Christmas – when most Christians across the globe celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ and families gather around a Christmas tree to open presents.
Many families ahead of the holiday put up lights around their homes and some neighborhoods in OC host Christmas light displays.
[Read: OC Shines Bright For Christmas]
Father Angelos Sebastian, the Vicar General of the Diocese of Orange and Pastor at Saint Kilian Church in Mission Viejo, said in a phone interview that the lights symbolize the light Jesus Christ brought to the world.
“During the Advent season and Christmas season, we put these lights on and that’s a powerful reminder to the world and to everyone that Christ comes into this world as our light,” he said.
“We don’t have to walk in darkness.”
Sebastian said the message of Christmas is one of hope and a reminder to love one another.
“Christ’s birth brings us the message of peace to a world that is torn apart by division, hatred and war,” he said. “It’s a time for us to come together, to celebrate the gift of peace, the gift of hope, and then it’s also a time to spread love.”
Kwanzaa
Hanukkah also started one day before Kwanzaa – a weeklong celebration of African American and Pan-African culture and community – which takes place between Dec. 26 to January 1.
The holiday was created by Maulana Karenga, professor and chair of the Department of Africana Studies at California State University, Long Beach in 1966 during the civil rights movement.
The word Kwanzaa comes from the Swahili word “matunda ya kwanza” which translates to the first fruits of harvest and the holiday itself was inspired by first fruit harvest celebrations in Africa.
[Read: Kwanzaa’s History and End of Year Celebrations in Orange County]
Over the course of seven days, families and friends will light a candle representing one of the seven principles of Kwanzaa including unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity and faith.
Three green candles, three red candles and a black candle are placed on a candle holder called a Kinara – with the red candles representing the past, the green candles the future and the black candle representing Black unity.
Kelly Navies, Oral Specialist at the National Museum of African American History & Culture in Washington D.C., said that Kwanzaa is a time when people come together in community to celebrate the beauty of African culture and pass on values to the next generation.
She also said children are central to Kwanzaa.
“Each day you honor that particular symbol. You light a candle on the Kinara,” she said in a video posted on the museum’s website.
“In our family the children would light the candle. The children would get up and talk about what did that principle mean to them. That helps them to learn a little bit more about that principle.”
Hosam Elattar is a Voice of OC reporter and corps member with Report for America, a GroundTruth initiative. Contact him at helattar@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @ElattarHosam.
Erika Taylor is a Voice of OC Tracy Wood Reporting Fellow and photojournalist. You can find her on Instagram @camerakeepsrolling or email at etaylor@voiceofoc.org