Menorahs sit patiently with candles in place, waiting to be lit for the Jewish Festival of Lights: Hanukkah.

The eight-day holiday doesn’t begin until sundown on Tuesday, but local families are already getting ready for the Jewish celebration.

Temple Beth El in Odessa, which serves about 80 member families from Hobbs to San Angelo, has a public open house tonight from 5 to 8 with its gift shop open for business. Handcrafted menorahs, candles, Hebrew placemats and a large assortment of crafts will be for sale in preparation for the holiday.

Hanukkah commemorates the rededication of the Jerusalem Temple by the Maccabees after their victory over the Syrians in the second century B.C. A golden menorah was lit with a small flask of oil for only one day, but it miraculously continued burning.

Susan Leshnower said her family’s menorah is an important part of their Hanukkah observation.

“We light one candle of the menorah every night during the festival,” she said. “It symbolizes the oil that lasted eight days.”

Hanukkah parties, complete with singing, candle lighting, the dreidel game — a four-sided spinning top imprinted with a Hebrew letter on each side — and small gifts like chocolate coins make the time a happy one.

“It’s always been a very enjoyable holiday, especially for children,” Jennifer Leshnower said.

Jewish treats like “latkes,” a potato pancake eaten with applesauce and sour cream, or a Jewish fruit-filled doughnut are eaten during Hanukkah.

Rabbi Sidney Zimelman from Fort Worth will be in town on Friday and Dec. 14 to lead the services here.

Picce Glast said Hanukkah is a minor holiday on the Jewish calendar — trailing in importance to Passover, Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year and Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement — but a special time to spend with family and celebrate freedom.

“It makes sharing the holidays even more important,” she said.

IF YOU GO

>> Temple Beth El will have a public open house for its gift shop from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. today at the temple, 1501 N. Grandview Ave.

>> Call 550-5111.