Chanukah 2025: One Flame, Many Communities

When JLIC communities celebrate Chanukah, they don’t do it halfway.

This year, 30 JLIC campuses and communities across the globe came together under one theme: “One Flame, Many Communities.” Whether you’re lighting candles in New Jersey or Jerusalem, making latkes in Maryland or lighting menorahs in Tel Aviv, the glow of Chanukah connects us all.

By The Numbers* (Because Who Doesn’t Love Stats?)

97,680 candles lit across the network (that’s a lot of light!)

8,256 latkes consumed plus hundreds of gallons (or liters for our Israeli friends) of applesauce and sour cream

6,351 donuts made, filled, and decorated

1,500 chocolate coins given out (and countless dreidel games played)

1,242 photos and videos captured

Uncounted pizzas, sushi, schnitzel, and more devoured (we were too busy eating to keep track)

45+ events held across JLIC communities

8 nights of bringing people together

1 mission: One Flame, Many Communities

Countless smiles (we tried to count but kept losing track)

*Some of these are guesstimates, but one thing’s certain: the reach this year was record-breaking.

What follows are highlights from communities across the network. With 30 campuses participating, we can’t cover everyone, but these stories capture the spirit of how JLIC brought “One Flame, Many Communities” to life.

Rutgers Went Door-to-Door in the Snow

The Rutgers JLIC team bundled up (kids included!) and hit the streets of the “Shtetl” over the first two nights of Chanukah. It was snowing. They had 124 homemade latkes. And they went door-to-door bringing Chanukah directly to students during finals week.

The thinking behind it? Students are swamped with finals and will light candles to fulfill the mitzvah, but probably won’t have the energy to do it enthusiastically. Enter JLIC. Plus, in a community where so many students live at home, this was a chance to show them how to bring real excitement to mitzvot even in their own apartments.

Nine new students discovered JLIC that way. Houses are usually a mix of students they see all the time and students they haven’t met yet. Dozens of candles got lit with genuine enthusiasm. Students in mixed houses shared Chanukah with roommates who’d never experienced it before. One student said lighting in their apartment made the mitzvah feel different, more alive.

Also, 124 latkes is a lot of latkes to make.

Maryland: Golf Carts, Golden Gelt, and Dedication

UMD JLIC brought Chanukah to students who couldn’t leave the library. They loaded up a golf cart and drove all over campus delivering study break packages during finals week. One of the directors drove that golf cart to the UMD library in negative degree weather. With their newborn.

That’s commitment.

But they made it fun too. Hidden in the packages were three pieces of golden gelt (Willy Wonka style, but Chanukah). Students who found them got special prizes.

The week also included a big bonfire bash at the Lehman Home with candle lighting, food, and friends. Finals are rough, but Maryland JLIC made sure students felt Chanukah warmth anyway.

Parties, Study Breaks, and Everything In Between

JLIC Haifa Young Professionals kicked things off with a Pre-Chanukah Casino Night. Poker chips, roulette, drinks, donuts, the works. (No actual gambling.) It set the festive tone.

Columbia brought Chanukah to the students. They posted study locations and just showed up with snacks and spirit. Finals week is brutal, students appreciated it.

WashU threw a cozy second-night party. Cheese boards, hot drinks, sufganiyot. Their invite said “everyone’s welcome” and they meant it. JLIC regulars and friends from across campus mixed together.

University of Illinois kicked off the first night with a party at the JET House. Good food, candle lighting, community. Sometimes that’s all you need.

Jerusalem: Creative Drinking and Joy

Jerusalem JLIC packed their week: musical candle lighting with residents of Mishkanot Reim care home, a Chanukah shiur, a tour of Nachlaot’s hidden corners, a Shabbat tisch, and their big Chanukah Bash.

That bash had an “Anything But a Cup” theme. Mason jars, vases, gum containers, beer steins. Whatever people could drink from that wasn’t an actual cup. The creativity was wild. Made for great photos too.

But the visit to the senior center was the real highlight. When students showed up to light candles and celebrate with the elderly residents, you could see the residents’ faces light up. Students who brought their musical talents sang and danced and brought genuine joy. It was so successful that when there was a last-minute cancellation for a second night, students immediately volunteered for round 2.

Nobody celebrates Chanukah alone in Jerusalem.

Bar Ilan: Seven Events, Endless Energy

Bar Ilan went all in. Seven events, touching 150+ students with everything from social to spiritual to service programming.

They started with “Soup Night” before Chanukah. Then came visits to terror-affected families through OneFamily, where students brought light to people going through really dark times.

Then the “Meat Sufganiyah Showdown.” Yes, basari Chanukah donuts.

They visited Sheba Hospital to sing, dance, and light candles with patients. They had a guys’ paintball night so popular that other communities were messaging asking to join. They held Rosh Chodesh Chanukah davening with live music and food.

Then their final gathering for the holiday, the ice skating event. This thing is legendary now. 100 participants, a waitlist so long they’re scouting bigger venues for next year. After skating came dinner and a community-wide Instagram reel competition with magnets as prizes.

Tel Aviv: Closure and Connection

This one hits different.

Tel Aviv JLIC hosted an evening for hostage families. These weren’t strangers. These were families the community had supported and built relationships with over two very difficult years.

It wasn’t just another program. It was closure. Connection. Bringing joy to kids who desperately needed it.

The feedback says it better:

“Last night was really an incredible evening. It was the closure we needed. Thank you for thinking of the volunteers and including us in the ceremony. We didn’t expect it, and we all so appreciated the recognition… Thanking you from the team, the families and most of all, the kids.”

This is what Chanukah is actually about. Light where there was darkness.

JLIC Herzliya Did Everything

JLIC Herzliya showed what one community can accomplish. “Soup n’ Sfarim” night where students picked up books and bonded over hot soup. Central candle lighting on campus. Dorm-by-dorm menorah lightings. They visited Holocaust survivors at their homes to light candles together. Led a Chanukah party at a local senior center. Held a Chanukah challah bake. Partnered with AEPi for their lighting and party.

Toronto: Feeding Their Neighbors

Toronto turned Chanukah into chesed. They collected over 300 cans of food for a local food bank.

The oil lasting eight days is a beautiful miracle. But a community feeding its neighbors? That’s the kind of miracle that keeps happening.

Quick Hits

UCLA got eight students signed up for free menorahs in just the first few days of the project. Eight homes glowing brighter.

The Sherut women’s program made sfinj (Moroccan donuts that give regular sufganiyot serious competition). They opened with a kumzitz on the first night, closed with karaoke. Celebrate light loudly.

What Actually Made This Work

“One Flame, Many Communities” worked because nobody tried to make everyone do the same thing.

Casino nights in Haifa. Door-to-door deliveries in snowy New Jersey with the directors’ kids tagging along. Golf cart missions in Maryland with a newborn. Basari sufganiyot in Israel. Food drives in Toronto. Hospital visits. Holocaust survivor homes. “Anything but a cup” parties in Jerusalem. Ice skating with Instagram reel competitions.

Every campus found their own way to bring light. That was the whole point.

97,680 candles across 30 communities. One mission, many voices, infinite ways to shine.

JLIC Chanukah 2025 brought together 30 communities across North America and Israel. Casino nights or kumzitzes, latkes or sfinj, the point stays the same: we’re stronger together, and light shines brighter when we share it.

Scroll through a few of the moments that lit up JLIC campuses from coast to coast and across the globe this Chanukah.