Hanukkah is usually thought of as a winter holiday. The eight day long Festival of Lights often coincides with Christmas, conjuring up images of snowflakes and puffs of frosty breath in the air.
In Argentina, Jews celebrate Hanukkah in the middle of the summer, at a time when many schools are closed and children are on summer vacation. So how do you celebrate Hanukkah in the warm climate of Argentina?
1. Begin your holiday in the neighborhood of Once in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Buenos Aires is a city renowned as one of the greatest Jewish centers in the world.
The predominantly Jewish population of Once is comparable in size to that of the Lower East Side of New York City. Once is a historic area, filled with wholesale shops, kosher restaurants and synagogues.
2. Celebrate a child friendly Hanukkah meal at the only Kosher McDonald’s outside of Israel.
Located in Abasto Shopping Center’s Food Court, this particular McDonald’s is monitored by Argentinean rabbis to ensure the food is completely kosher. It serves the typical McDonald’s menu but there’s no form of dairy available.
3. Attend a Chabad-Lubavitch sponsored public menorah lighting. Chabad-Lubavitch centers all across the world host public menorah lightings for Hanukkah. Argentina is host to more than 10 Chabad-Lubavich centers, three of which host menorah lightings.
You may attend one of the two ceremonies in Buenos Aires or the ceremony in Salta. If you prefer to attend a state sponsored menorah lighting, there’s a large municipal menorah in Plaza San Martin in Buenos Aires.4. Take one of Buenos Aires’ many Jewish Day Tours. The all day tour will take you to places like the port where Jewish immigrants arrived, searching for a better way of life. The tour also include the serious site of the Israeli Embassy Plaza, which holds a monument to those killed in a 1992 attack on the Israeli Embassy in Argentina.
You’ll see less momentous buildings too. The Raoul Wallemberg monument and Latin American Rabbinic Seminary, the only school in Latin America that teaches Rabbis (spiritual leaders), Cantors (musical leaders) and Mohels (ritual surgeons) are also stops on the day tour.
5. Present family member with small gifts, like chocolate coins, or “gelt.” Hanukkah gift giving isn’t emphasized in Argentina where the holiday is relatively small. It’s primarily a time to gather together as a family and remember the miracles of Hannukkah.