By Tom Brodersen
Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights, is an ancient Jewish celebration of religious freedom which has been observed for over 2000 years. Hanukkah is still celebrated by Jews all over the world. For most of its history it was considered only a minor festival in comparison to Passover, Rosh Hashana or Yom Kippur. When Prescott was founded, Hanukkah was mostly observed in Jewish homes by lighting candles and saying prayers, which would not be noted in the historical record.
Like most Americans, most of the pioneers were at least nominally Christian. Jews were a small minority among the immigrants seeking religious freedom and economic opportunity. When Michel Goldwater, a Polish Jew, left his home in 1835, he could not have dreamed that his grandson, Barry Goldwater, would one day be a candidate for President of the United States. Michel Goldwater, himself, was elected mayor of Prescott in 1885. His son, Morris Goldwater, served as Prescott’s mayor for over 20 years. They were among many Jewish immigrants who settled in Prescott in territorial days and contributed to the development of Arizona.
Other early Jewish settlers include Isaac Goldberg, who is remembered as the proprietor of the first makeshift bar on what came to be called Whiskey Row. In 1864 Michael Wormser, a Jew from France, opened one of the first stores on the Courthouse Plaza. Jacob Marks was born in Kentucky and became a cattle rancher, a mine owner and a member of the Prescott City Council. Louis Wollenberg, another Polish Jew, served in the Arizona Territorial Legislature. His wife, Fannie Wollenberg, was a close friend of Jessie Fremont, wife of Arizona Territorial Governor John C. Fremont. There were Jewish weddings and funerals in the early years of Prescott, but not much is known about how Jewish holidays were observed on the frontier.
Hanukkah originated in about 164 BCE. Antiochus IV decreed that Judaism would be abolished and that Greek culture would be imposed on Jews in the land of Israel. Religious traditions like observance of the Sabbath, circumcision and kosher dietary laws were brutally suppressed. A group of Jews, led by Judah Maccabee, arose in rebellion and achieved an unlikely victory over a more powerful foe. The desecrated Temple in Jerusalem was recovered. However, when they tried to relight Temple menorah (candelabra) there was only enough oil for one day. Miraculously, the oil lasted for eight days. The victorious Maccabees decreed that Hanukkah should be celebrated forevermore.
This year Hanukkah begins at sunset on Sunday, December 14 and lasts until sunset on Monday, December 22. In the Jewish calendar, days begin at sunset rather than at midnight. Hanukkah and other Jewish holidays do not occur on the same date on the secular calendar every year because the Jewish calendar is a lunisolar calendar, combining both lunar and solar cycles. Months are determined by the moon and adjustments are made to coordinate with the solar year.
Jews light an eight-branched candelabrum, known as a Hanukkah menorah, in remembrance of the rededication of the Temple menorah. Each night another candle is added, symbolically increasing light at winter solstice. Special Hanukkah prayers are recited, and songs are sung at synagogues and in homes. Traditionally, foods like jelly doughnuts and latkes (potato pancakes) are cooked in abundant oil and eaten at Hanukkah parties. In days past in territorial Prescott, the Jewish population was too small to support a synagogue or a rabbi (Jewish clergy). In 1977, more than 100 years after Prescott was founded as the capital of Arizona Territory, Irving and Shirley Brohner organized a small group of local Jews which gradually grew into Prescott’s first synagogue, Temple B’rith Shalom.
“Days Past” is a collaborative project of the Sharlot Hall Museum and the Prescott Corral of Westerners International (www.prescottcorral.org). This and other Days Past articles are also available at www.archives.sharlothallmuseum.org/articles/days-past-articles/1. The public is encouraged to submit proposed articles and inquiries to dayspast@sharlothallmuseum.org Please contact SHM Research Center reference desk at 928-277-2003, or via email at archivesrequest@sharlothallmuseum.org for information or assistance with photo requests.