Even though Hanukkah falls during winter break this year, both Northwestern Hillel and Northwestern Chabad are finding ways to keep the Hanukkah spirit alive for students.

NU Hillel will hold its annual Latkepalooza celebration Wednesday. The event serves as a pre-celebration of the eight-day holiday, which begins on Dec. 14 this year.

Like past years, Latkepalooza will be held at the Hillel house on campus. This year, though, the Hillel staff plans to add a twist to the event’s theme. 

“We had this fun idea that every floor has a different vibe,” Communication junior and NU Hillel’s religious and spiritual life co-chair Rose Bicas-Dolgen said. 

Bicas-Dolgen said the bottom floor of the Hillel house will be called the Maccabee II Lounge, inspired by the Chicago bar, Mark II Lounge. The lounge will serve mocktails and host poker for students. The main floor will offer traditional Hanukkah foods like latkes and jelly donuts, while the top floor will have Hanukkah themed arts and crafts.

This year’s planned Hanukkah celebrations extend off campus, as well. The Chabad of Evanston, which includes NU Chabad, will hold a menorah lighting ceremony at Fountain Square on Dec. 16.

The Chabad replaced their old 10-foot menorah with a 15-foot menorah for the ceremony, according to executive director Rabbi Dov Hillel Klein. The stems and arms of the menorah will be lit up in different colors, which Klein said will help it be more visible at night. 

Klein said the event will also have a person in an LED robot costume dancing, as well as someone making balloon animals for the audience. 

He emphasized the importance of celebrating Hanukkah this year, especially amid fears of antisemitism and federal immigration enforcement in the community. 

“Hannukah is a time to illuminate that darkness, to illuminate those fears and focus on something positive, to do something extra in one’s life to increase light, not only with oneself but in our community around us,” Klein said. 

With NU’s winter break beginning Dec. 13, many students won’t be in Evanston for the menorah lighting ceremony. Because of this, Chabad has free menorah kits for students to take home with them so they can celebrate Hanukkah wherever they may be this year. 

Along with these events, NU Chabad director of innovation Rabbi Mendy Weg plans to bring the Hanukkah festivities to NU’s Ski Club’s trip to Banff, Alberta, on Dec.14. This will be Weg’s second time attending the ski trip, after participating in the 2023 trip to Steamboat Springs, Colorado.

In 2023, Weg filled the Steamboat Springs lodge with Hanukkah decorations and brought jelly donuts and latkes to celebrate. Weg and the students also played dreidel and did their own menorah lighting on the trip. 

This year, he is coordinating with a Chabad in Banff to help bring Hanukkah food items to the hotel, and he plans to bring the decorations and dreidels from Evanston. 

“To be able to celebrate the holiday and shine the lights regardless of the surroundings is a really powerful idea,” Weg said. “It’s sort of what Hanukkah is all about.” 

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