USD holds first Hanukkah celebration

The USD Center for Diversity & Community held its first Hanukkah celebration Dec. 7.

Hanukkah is a Jewish holiday celebrated for eight days and nights. It commemorates the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem following the Jewish victory over the Syrian-Greeks in 165 B.C.E

Lamont Sellers, director of the CDC, said the idea for the celebration came after the CDC held its first Passover celebration this past spring.

During the Passover celebration, it’s traditional for people to bargain with each other during the Afikoman over things such as food and money. Sellers and Laura Vidler, chair of the modern languages and linguistics department, bargained over being able to host a Hanukkah celebration the next December instead.

Sellers said the celebration, the first of its kind that he knows of at USD, also gives students who aren’t Jewish the opportunity to learn about the culture.

“If you look around the MUC and on the university website you see all of the standard Christmas stuff, but it really doesn’t speak to the rich diversity we have on this campus,” he said. “This (Hanukkah) is something that’s celebrated around the world by Jews and it’s something that we can come together, learn together, celebrate together and just make things better for each other.”

Vidler said that when she and her family moved to Vermillion last year they noticed the lack of Jewish culture and representation in the community.

“It’s honestly just something that a lot of people don’t really know about or have experience with in South Dakota. It’s actually hard to get all of the equipment and the things you need to celebrate Hanukkah,” she said. “It’s not just a religious community, it’s a cultural community as well. So it’s nice for me to educate people in Vermillion and people at USD about some of our traditions.”

More than 30 students attended the event, where they had the opportunity to listen to the celebration’s history and light a menorah. Students were also able to eat fried foods such as chicken nuggets and donuts, which are traditional Hanukkah foods.

Students also learned how to play dreidel, a popular Jewish game.

First-year Francois Lokenye said that he came to the event to learn more about Hanukkah because though his mother is Jewish, he didn’t know very much about the celebration.

“I definitely learned a lot more than I did know,” he said. “I learned that the gift part has been adopted through countries that celebrate Christmas.”

Lokenye added that learning about different cultural celebrations in general is important because it allows students who may not know a lot about certain cultures or religions to have a better understanding of what they mean to the students who celebrate them.

“They’re important because it changes people’s perceptions about religions or the culture. It just gets people in on different types of cultures,” he said. “And on a microlevel it’s important for USD because we’re here at a college with students from different backgrounds. Students can be exposed to different cultures and different religions and festivities and I think that’s essential to the advancement of your knowledge.”