Imagine a holiday composed of tasty food, bright lights, gambling for all ages and gifts galore! No, I am not talking about Las Vegas Day, but Chanukah, commencing on December 15 for eight crazy nights. Known traditionally as the Festival of Lights, Jews around the world will join their families and friends to commemorate the rededication of the Temple of Jerusalem by Judah Maccabee in 165 BC by feasting on latkes (potato pancakes), playing dreidel (a gambling game involving a spinning top), light an eight-candled menorah and in many families, open gifts and sing songs each night of the holiday.

Back in 168 BCE, Antiochus, the Greek King of Syria, outlawed Jewish rituals and ordered the Jews to worship Greek gods in an effort to force them to assimilate into the larger community. The Temple of Jerusalem was dedicated to the worship of Zeus. Judah Maccabee and a small band of soldiers rebelled against the Greeks' efforts to make the Jews adopt Greek culture as their own. At the Holy Temple, the Jews were troubled by the many sacred articles found missing or broken, including the golden menorah. After repairing the synagogue, the story takes on somewhat of a legendary status, describing how the Jews wanted to hold a celebration and light the menorah, but no oil was to be found. After searching every nook and cranny, only a small container of oil was located, enough to last just one day. Miraculously, the oil lasted the Jews eight nights, just enough time, to replace it with more to keep the menorah lit.

Today, we light a candle each night of Chanukah, to represent each day the oil prevailed. With history merging with legend, the lights and the holiday have become a metaphor, in more contemporary times, for survival. It is primarily a story and a celebration of the miracle of the Jewish community's survival despite the temptations and efforts of Greek society. It has also become an opportunity to remember and celebrate Jewish survival from tragedies such as the Holocaust and oppression by world leaders such as Stalin. Like the oil in the Holy Temple, the Jewish people continue to prevail.

Even in places, such as Bulgaria, where the peoples every move was scrutinised for 45 years under the socialists, the lure of sectarian society still could not dim the light of Jewish existence. The need to find the strength of one's convictions, to see the light (candles) within the darkness (winter) and then to find joy in celebrating tradition is perhaps one reason Chanukah, though considered a minor holiday in the Jewish calendar, has become such a popular celebration. And, here in Sofia, the celebration is a highlight of the year.

Sponsored by the Sofia area's Jewish community, the Chanukah festivities attract several hundred people from the Jewish community each year. The holiday is kick started with a huge party held in the Jewish Community Center (JCC) on Alexander Stamboliiski Boulevard. Because the first night will begin on a Friday, the day of Sabbath, this year the party took place on Saturday, December 16.

It all began at 5.45pm, when, at the Sofia Synagogue on Ekzarh Yosif Street, the rabbi held a Havdallah Service to mark the end of the Sabbath. The traditional portion shortly followed and two candles were lit to signify that it was the second day of the holiday. Then, the torch, which was used to light the menorah in the synagogue, was passed to the adjoining celebration taking place at the JCC by a group of teenage volunteers. Once the torch arrived, it was used to light the menorah in the JCC, where many people were gathered.

Once it was lit, the party officially started!

This year's theme was Miracles. Several event took place simultaneously in a number of rooms. In the larger hall, various game stations were positioned throughout the room, in addition to an assortment of other activities such as roulette and a table serving suf ganiyot, a delicious Israeli jelly-filled doughnut eaten on this holiday, latkes, hard-boiled eggs and other foods made with oil. There was also the opportunity to test one's luck with the game of dreidel, a top that lands on the first letter of the phrase in Hebrew Nes Gadol, Haya Sham, or A great miracle happened there. After 9.30pm, the younger generations split off from the main hall and proceed to the Youth Club where another party commenced with karaoke and several other Chanukah-related features.

These types of celebrations mark a growth not only in size of the Bulgarian Jewish community, but also the observance and participation of the people. During the socialist times, families were barred from practicing these age-old traditions. Julia Dandolova, project manager of the American Joint Jewish Distribution Committee in Bulgaria, notes that those customs eventually became associated with their grandparents' generation.

However, the early 90s were welcomed by a romantic period, seen throughout all the Jewish communities in Eastern Europe. The people's enthusiasm was high as they began to learn all the prayers, rituals and celebrations that help one establish their own Jewish identity.

But that period is over, explains Dandolova. It has been more than 15 years and people are passing beyond that primary stage of learning about what Judaism represents. People are now beginning to experience the traditions, to develop their own unique relationship with the religion, as they continue to learn more about its significance.

In the past, people would gather at the synagogue to observe each holiday, to better understand the practices involved. Today, more and more families hold their own celebrations in their homes, creating their own personal customs attached to each holiday.

Dandolova discusses the youth-oriented goals of the community, recognising that it is the next generation that will not only be able to share its knowledge with their parents and grandparents, but also it will be today's youth who ensure that the candles will continue to stay lit in a fervently secular society.

The passing of the torch is appropriately symbolic of the community's survival here in Bulgaria. As the torch runners sprinted towards the JCC, where their families and friends await, they too carried with them a sense of pride and strength in who they see themselves to be and their important role in the community.

Chanukah is often overemphasised due to the hype of the Christmas season, as the holidays fall at the same time of the year.

However, though Chanukah may lack the commercialised bells and whistles we see all around us, it helps Jews recall, each year, that an appreciation of the sparkle and lure of mainstream society must not threaten the core survival of the Jewish people. The candles lit each night to the melodies of ancient times remind participants, through stories retold, that light trumps darkness, and joy is best celebrated when shared with friends and family.

Happy Chanukah, Chag Sameach.