DECEMBER 7 • 2023 | 85
J
N

Happy Chanukah! 
I

t’s almost Chanukah 2023. The Festival of Lights begins at sundown on Thursday, 
Dec. 7. 
Chanukah celebrates a victory for the Jewish people, of the Hasmoneans 
led by Judah Maccabee over the Greco-Syrians in 164 B.C.E. The holiday is called 
the “Festival of Lights” due to the Talmudic story of the priests arriving to light the 
Temple’s menorah and finding only one jar of oil that survived the battles … but this oil 
lasted for eight days instead of one.
Using all the spellings I found in the William Davidson Digital Archive of Jewish 
Detroit History — Chanukah, Channukah, Chanuka, Hanuka, Hannukah, Hanukkah 
and Hanukah — more than 15,000 pages mention Chanukah. Whew! I could do a cou-
ple of columns just about the variety of spellings over the years. 
BTW — “Chanukah” is the clear winner as it is cited on 9,344 pages; it’s 
also the spelling we use at the JN. Hanuka, Hanukah and Hanukkah are 
second, third and fourth, respectively. 
Citations for Chanukah are most often found in 
advertisements for grocers, meat markets and other 
purveyors of food. Ads for gift ideas — and stores 
willing to help you spend your money on such gifts 
— constitute another large group. 
For the last 100 years, both the Detroit Jewish Chronicle and the 
JN have also published hundreds of recipes for latkes, cookies, lat-
kes, donuts, latkes, brisket, latkes and other delicacies. Personally, 
latkes are my favorite!
While searching Chanukah in the Archive, I came across a very 
interesting substory, one that impacts all of the above: Chanukah 
Tables. These are creative displays of arts and crafts, latkes, cookies 
and sweets, menorahs and other symbols for the holiday. 
The earliest specific mentions of Chanukah tables are from the 
1940s. The first “Chanukah Table” is in the Nov. 27, 1942, JN. In an 
article about the Temple Israel Choir singing at a Chanukah celebra-
tion, it was noted that Mrs. Morton H. Barris was planning “special 
Chanukah table decorations” for the occasion. A demonstration of 
Chanukah table arts and crafts at B’nai Moshe was cited in the Dec. 
17, 1948, Chronicle.
I found several excellent “picture-perfect” stories. “Table-Top Traditions” is a story about the Levine and 
Torgow families creating their Chanukah table settings with the help of a bevy of grandchildren (Dec. 3, 1993, 
JN). Nice photos with the article, as well as their recipe for Chanukah cookies. Very nice … and tasty!
“Setting the Scene” is a story of how to entertain for Chanukah and New Years Eve (Dec. 15, 1995). I like the 
photos of 4-year-old Jenna Garber and Brian Krasnick, along with their older siblings, Samantha Garber and 
Bradley Krasnick. All of them are pictured surveying goodies at holiday tables. Doesn’t get much better, does it?
“Festival of Lights” features the Leib family lighting a menorah (Dec. 19, 2003). The subtitle is that the Leib 
family turns their home into a “Chanukah wonderland.
” Looks like it would indeed be something to see.
Finally, there is an article about a very special house celebration. In 2015, Tilly Shames, Hy Safran, Rabbi 
Yisrael Pinson and Lynda Giles and about a dozen other Jewish Detroiters attended a Chanukah celebration 
at the White House, guests of President Barack Obama (Jan. 1, 2015). I wonder how the White House chef’s 
latkes tasted.
Happy Chanukah! 

Want to learn more? Go to the DJN archives, available for free at thejewishnews.com.

Mike Smith
Alene and 
Graham Landau 
Archivist Chair

Looking Back

From the William Davidson Digital Archive of Jewish Detroit History 

accessible at thejewishnews.com

