How My Bukharian Jewish Community Celebrates Hanukkah [Video]

When I was growing up in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, all of my relatives and friends lived close together, and a lot of community events happened outdoors. We Bukharian Jews would close off the streets and a few houses would be in charge of organizing a party, like a block party, for a wedding, bar mitzvah, or a yushvo (memorial).

For Hanukkah, we would all gather and light a flat menorah with oil and cotton wicks. The majority of the oil in Central Asia is made from the seeds of cotton plants, but we would prepare our own olive oil especially for the holiday. (Today we use a standing menorah because it’s much safer, but I still prefer oil to candles.) Children received gifts, but only on one night.

The tunes that we used and still use for the prayers are also different from those used by other Jewish communities. Our music is called shashmaqam…