An Enthusiastic Celebration to Kick Off the Festival of Lights

Hanukkah, the eight-day Jewish Festival of Lights, began Sunday evening with celebrations around Orange County. One of the most enthusiastic had to be the one at the Orange County Performing Arts Center.

The Orange County Chanukah Concert 1998, directed by Gordon Fishman and in its fourth year, was held at the center as an inspiration-minded nod to the holiday. Actor Ed Asner spoke briefly on the significance of Judaism and being Jewish, and children and adult choirs performed dozens of traditional songs.

Just about all focused on the meaning of Hanukkah, which marks the victory by the Maccabees, a tiny group of Jewish fighters who reclaimed the temple of Jerusalem from Syrians more than 2,000 years ago.

As the legend goes, the Jews thought they found only enough oil to keep the temple’s flame alive for one day. But it miraculously kept burning for eight. Now, Jews celebrate by lighting one symbolic candle on each of the eight nights.

Asner, best known for his TV roles in “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and “Lou Grant,” didn’t appear until the concert’s end. Instead of doing what he does best--which is act--Asner made a few uplifting comments during his 10-minute talk.

Pleasant enough, but Asner might have been more affecting with a dramatic reading, perhaps from Howard Fast’s “My Glorious Brothers,” which the actor said provides insight into Hanukkah.

Still, the audience responded well when Asner remarked that Hanukkah is “a cry for Jews to make themselves known” in the world and acknowledged the impact Jews have made, especially in the arts.

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“Our writings, music and art should be beacons for future generations,” he said. “In America, Jews are second only to African Americans for what they’ve done in music.”

As for assimilation, Asner turned to humor to underscore his point: “We’ve even had Jewish mobsters. That tells you how American we really are.”

The evening began with children’s choirs from several Orange County temples and schools offering cheerful renditions of Hanukkah-related songs including “Eight Candles for the Maccabees,” “I Have a Little Dreidel,” “Chanukah Song” and “Light One Candle.”

More polished, but not quite as cute, versions of celebration songs were presented by the Orange County Jewish Adult Choir and the Fox family, led by master of ceremonies Herschel Fox.

David Jack and his Panda Band, a group specializing in antic children’s music, amused youngsters who began fidgeting as the three-hour show wore on. Kids eagerly followed Jack’s call to mimic monkeys and elephants and to spin as if they were dreidel tops.