My family on my fathers side is Jewish and every year my family gets together to celebrate Hanukkah. Every night we say the Hanukkah blessings and then light the candles, me and my sister take turns each night lighting them from left to right. We are a pretty secular family but we still continue this long tradition. The menorah is the pedestal that contains the candles and is the main symbol of Hanukkah, with 9 spots to place candles, 8 candles representing the 8 days of Hanukkah, and the 9th candle in the middle is used to light them. During this time we also eat latkes and play dreidel for chocolate coins. This tradition comes from my great grandma, who escaped from German occupied Poland during WW2 and came to New York City. Sadly passed away around 2018 but her tradition still lives on through our annual celebration.

– Gabriel O. Urbas

Relationship:  Great-grandchild of im/migrant or more Great-grandchild of im/migrant or more