Hanukkah of Light Across the Country
- Carmi Tint
- Dec 21, 2025
- 3 min read
Hanukkah is a reminder that light grows when it is shared. Throughout this week, Dror Israel carried that light into neighborhoods, schools, and communities across the country. Through gatherings, journeys, and moments of care, the holiday became a way to bring warmth, connection, and hope into everyday life.
Rambam Neighborhood, Rishon LeTzion
Dror Israel educators and our associated NOAL youth movement turned a local youth center in the Rambam neighborhood into a welcoming community space. Youth-led activities led into a neighborhood procession and shared candle lighting. Families, children, teens, and seniors gathered around youth leadership that created connection and belonging.
Mitzpe Ramon
At Dror Israel’s social high school and boarding school in Mitzpe Ramon, students in the eco-tourism vocational track planned and produced a community Hanukkah celebration as part of their studies. From planning to execution, students took responsibility and welcomed more than 100 community members into a shared holiday experience.
Masada
During the NOAL youth movement’s traditional Hanukkah hike to Masada, teens completed three challenging days of walking and shared effort. At sunrise, first-year counselors reflected on the journey:
“We learned what responsibility is, how to lead a group, and how to stay together even when it is hard. The groups truly came together. We learned to trust one another, not to give up, and to overcome challenges together. We are part of a long chain of the youth movement, and the chain will not be broken.”
The Gaza Border Region
Dror Israel educators guided hundreds of young leaders from Krembo Wings, Israel’s youth movement for children and youth with and without disabilities, on a Hanukkah journey through the Gaza Border region. Participants met residents, learned local history, and encountered stories of loss alongside rebuilding. Through presence and engagement, the holiday became an act of solidarity.
Northern Border Communities
Yoav Rosenberg, Haylin Mostovoy, and Timur Bashok, graduates of Dror Israel’s Eshbal Boarding School and Dror Israel’s high school in Karmiel, are spending their gap year living and working in northern border communities. As Hanukkah was marked across the country, their presence supported daily life through education, agriculture, and community work, offering steadiness and light during a challenging time.
Afula
In Afula, Dror Israel’s HeChalutz Education Through Sports program marked Hanukkah with a community event on the playing field. Children from different backgrounds trained, played, and lit candles together, using sport as a shared language that builds trust and connection.
Sderot
As part of Dror Israel’s Community Network for the Elderly, a group of senior citizens in Sderot hosted sixth-grade students for a Hanukkah gathering. Through stories, games, and conversation, meaningful connections formed across generations.
Akko
At Dror Israel’s Educators Kibbutz in Akko, a community of educators and their children gathered with neighborhood residents in the local community garden to light Hanukkah candles together. Among plants, voices, and candlelight, the celebration became a shared moment of connection rooted in place.
Light in Their Memory
The gathering “Light in Their Memory” brought people together to mourn those murdered in the recent attack at Bondi Beach in Sydney and the victims of the attack at at a synagogue in Manchester on Yom Kippur earlier this year. Led by olim from Australia and England, Dror Israel educators whose lives were deeply shaken, the evening held grief alongside connection. In the shared space, candlelight offered a moment of togetherness and care.
Across these moments, Hanukkah took shape through presence and care. In each place, light emerged not from ceremony alone, but from relationships built through action and time. This is how Dror Israel brings light into lives, during Hanukkah and throughout the year.
Comments