NORTHAMPTON — Congregation B’nai Israel hosts Hanukkah celebrations every year, but 2017 was the first time the Jewish community brought both folk singers and local Christian leaders to share in its observance of the holiday.
Sunday, on the sixth night of the eight-day holiday, Congregation B’nai Israel held “Shine a Light: A Hanukkah Celebration of Peace and Justice” at its 253 Prospect St. synagogue. At least 300 people arrived to light menorahs, sing songs and eat food for the traditional Jewish holiday.
But some of them were gentile, including six Protestant pastors and representatives from the Pioneer Valley Workers Center. Each shared meditations and lit a candle on a menorah. Sisters and folk music duo Nerissa and Katryna Nields, who describe themselves as Christian, played songs for the cheering crowd for more than a half hour.
To Rabbi Justin David, having different members of the community present, Jewish or otherwise, was the point.
“All Jewish holidays have a particular element — that particular Jewish element — to them, but the message and the feeling is universal,” David said.
David said the message of Hanukkah is one of seeking justice against oppression. The holiday itself commemorates the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem during the second century B.C. after Jews had revolted against their Seleucid rulers and reclaimed the place of worship.
The 16-year rabbi has been fighting what he sees as oppression, going to New York City in February and protesting President Trump’s travel ban, for which he was arrested. He has also been working to strengthen interfaith ties by supporting the building of the Hampshire Mosque.
“Some of it was scheduling, but also, coming into the holiday, Jacob and I came into awareness that a lot of the social justice work we’ve been doing has been with interfaith leaders, so we wanted to acknowledge that,” said David, speaking about his and fellow Rabbi Jacob Fine’s decision to invite the non-Jewish participants.
The evening opened with some traditional Jewish songs, including “Hineh Ma Tov” and “S’vivon.” The latter brought excited and vigorous clapping from the crowd, to which David said, “This is to channel your inner dreidel.”
After a few songs and Hanukkah blessings, David called for the crowd to join in a song without words, “a wordless melody to draw that melody inward and have it focus just a moment before we light the candles.”
With an array of hums, las and chants, the crowd altogether fulfilled the rabbi’s request and signaled the start of the candle-lighting ceremony.
Children and their parents, then older people took turns using the shamash, or “helper candle,” to light six candles on each displayed menorah, symbolizing the sixth night of Hanukkah. By the time they were finished, the room was glowing with hundreds of freshly lit wicks.
The final menorah had its six candles lit by the Christian guests and Workers Center representatives.
“I’d like to invite some dear friends of mine who are partners in the work of tikkun olam, of repairing the world, each of whom, as ministers and in their communities, have really done such sacred work,” David said.
The first guest to speak was the Rev. Vicki Kemper, pastor at the First Congregational Church in Amherst, who has opened her church as a sanctuary for Lucio Perez, a 20-year U.S. resident who is in danger of being deported to his home country of Guatemala.
“The oil lasted for eight days,” said Kemper, referring to the traditional story of why eight candles are lit throughout Hanukkah. “For 61 days now, Lucio Perez has been in sanctuary at First Church, Amherst, and there is no end in sight. We thank you for your support, we trust that the most powerful form of resistance is love. Love of God, love of neighbor, love of the strangers in our midst and the enemies in our path, love in actions.”
The Rev. Michael McSherry of Edwards Church in Northampton has collected and given donations for refugee crises overseas, and opened with a hearty “happy Hanukkah,” before lighting a candle.
McSherry finished with a prayer and the crowd sang “Maoz Tzur,” a traditional Hanukkah song.
The Nields sisters then took the stage, with Nerissa playing an acoustic guitar and singing alongside her sister, Katryna. Their set list did not include any Jewish songs or songs in Hebrew, but instead lyrically kept with the themes of justice and peace.
“Faith is like music. I’m a Christian, Rabbi Justin is Jewish. You could easily say I play the guitar and Justin plays the trombone,” said Nerissa Nields, who plays music in her own Christian congregation in West Cummington.
The duo played a new rendition of “This Little Light of Mine,” to which they added original lyrics about the senses; classic songs such as Bob Dylan’s “I Shall be Released”; original compositions, including “Tyrants Always Fall”; and Woody Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land,” which Katryna Nields opined should be the national anthem.
It was the first time the two sisters had ever been invited to such an event in their decades-long career, Nerissa Nields said.
After the Nields’ performance, the entire gathering enjoyed a catered meal from Mosaic Cafe — prepared on-site so as to remain within kosher dietary laws. Katryna Nields was impressed with the atmosphere of the Shine a Light event.
“It was incredibly moving to see all those candles lit,” she said. “I saw them before they were lit and after, so moving.”