Candle light and doughnuts: Israelis celebrate Hanukkah

Members of the Ben Shahar family light a hanukkiyah, a candlestick with nine branches that is lit to mark Hanukkah, the 8-day Jewish Festival of Lights, in Moshav Kfar Mordechai, Israel December 25, 2019. Picture taken December 25, 2019. REUTERS/Nir Elias

RAMAT GAN, Israel (Reuters) - As sun set on Sunday, Jews across Israel marked the last night of the Hanukkah festival of lights.

Hanukkah, Hebrew for "dedication", commemorates the 2nd century BC victory of Judah Maccabee and his followers in a revolt in Judea against armies of the Seleucid Empire and the ensuing restoration of the Jewish temple in Jerusalem.

Light is a main theme of the eight-day festival because, Jewish tradition says, the Maccabees found only enough ritually pure oil to fuel the temple's ceremonial lamp, The Menorah, for one day, but it burned for eight days.

The Pedhatzur family stand together as they light a hanukkiyah, a candlestick with nine branches that is lit to mark Hanukkah, the 8-day Jewish Festival of Lights, at their home in Neve Ilan, Israel December 23, 2019. Picture taken December 23, 2019. REUTERS/Nir Elias

During the holiday, it is customary for friends and families to get together in the evening and light the hanukiah, a nine-arm candelabra traditionally set by the window, and to eat jam-filled doughnuts or deep-fried potato pancakes.

One special candle, the shamash, is used to light a Hanukkah candle for each day of the holiday starting with one candle on the first night and another each evening.

Hanukkah often holds special significance for Israelis who see the Maccabee victory as symbolic of Jewish triumph in dark times. Avraham Harshalom, 95, is a survivor of the Nazi Holocaust whose parents and brother were murdered in Auschwitz.

The Orbach family lights a hanukkiyah, a candlestick with nine branches that is lit to mark Hanukkah, the 8-day Jewish Festival of Lights, at their home in the Jewish settlement of Tekoa, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank December 29, 2019. REUTERS/Nir Elias

As the 75th anniversary of the camp's liberation approaches, Harshalom lit the hanukiah with his grandchildren, at his son's home in Ramat Gan. Harshalom moved to the newly-founded Israel in 1949.

"We are lighting candles 75 years after, it is a good feeling to be in the bosom of my family, with my children, with my grandchildren - it is a great joy," said Harshalom.

Members of the Avivi family gather together after lighting a hanukkiyah, a candlestick with nine branches that is lit to mark Hanukkah, the 8-day Jewish Festival of Lights, in Tel Aviv, Israel December 22, 2019. Picture taken December 22, 2019. REUTERS/Nir Elias

(Reporting by Nir Elias and Rinat Harash; Writing by Maayan Lubell; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)

A boy of the Orbach family lights a hanukkiyah, a candlestick with nine branches that is lit to mark Hanukkah, the 8-day Jewish Festival of Lights, at their home in the Jewish settlement of Tekoa, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank December 29, 2019.REUTERS/Nir Elias

The Orbach family lights a hanukkiyah, a candlestick with nine branches that is lit to mark Hanukkah, the 8-day Jewish Festival of Lights, at their home in the Jewish settlement of Tekoa, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank December 29, 2019.REUTERS/Nir Elias

Grandchildren of Israeli Holocaust survivor Avraham Harshalom, stand next to a hanukkiyah, a candlestick with nine branches that is lit to mark Hanukkah, the 8-day Jewish Festival of Lights, in Ramat Gan, Israel December 24, 2019. Picture taken December 24, 2019. REUTERS/Nir Elias

Members of the Shainfeld family gather after lighting a hanukkiyah, a candlestick with nine branches that is lit to mark Hanukkah, the 8-day Jewish Festival of Lights, in Ramat Gan, Israel December 25, 2019. Picture taken December 25, 2019. REUTERS/Nir Elias

Israeli Holocaust survivor Avraham Harshalom, 95, is seen together with his family through a window as they light a hanukkiyah, a candlestick with nine branches that is lit to mark Hanukkah, the 8-day Jewish Festival of Lights, in Ramat Gan, Israel December 24, 2019. Picture taken December 24, 2019. REUTERS/Nir Elias

Sufagniyout, deep-fried doughnuts eaten during Hanukkah, the 8-day Jewish Festival of Lights, are placed on a table as the Shainfeld family gather to mark the holiday at Ramat Gan, Israel December 25, 2019. Picture taken December 25, 2019. REUTERS/Nir Elias

Children from the Shternefeld family stand next to a hanukkiyah, a candlestick with nine branches that is lit to mark Hanukkah, the 8-day Jewish Festival of Lights, in Kiryat Ye'arim, Israel December 23, 2019. Picture taken December 23, 2019. REUTERS/Nir Elias

Children from the Ben Shahar family sit next to a hanukkiyah, a candlestick with nine branches that is lit to mark Hanukkah, the 8-day Jewish Festival of Lights, at Moshav Kfar Mordechai, Israel December 25, 2019. Picture taken December 25, 2019. REUTERS/Nir Elias

Israeli soldiers from a combat unit gather together to light a hanukkiyah, a candlestick with nine branches that is lit to mark Hanukkah, the 8-day Jewish Festival of Lights, at Urim base in southern Israel December 26, 2019. Picture taken December 26, 2019. REUTERS/Nir Elias

Jewish seminary students light hanukkiyot, candlesticks with nine branches as they mark Hanukkah, the 8-day Jewish Festival of Lights, at the entrance to their dormitories in Bnei Brak, Israel December 28, 2019. Picture taken December 28, 2019. REUTERS/Nir Elias

Jewish seminary students read religious texts after lighting a hanukkiyah, a candlestick with nine branches that is lit to mark Hanukkah, the 8-day Jewish Festival of Lights, at their seminary of Yeshiva, in Bnei Brak, Israel December 28, 2019. Picture taken December 28, 2019. REUTERS/Nir Elias

A Jewish seminary student is seen through his window as he lights a hanukkiyah, a candlestick with nine branches that is lit to mark Hanukkah, the 8-day Jewish Festival of Lights, in Bnei Brak, Israel December 28, 2019. Picture taken December 28, 2019. REUTERS/Nir Elias