CHULA VISTA (NEWS 8) - Chula Vista's 9-foot Menorah was standing proudly in the center of the Outlets at the Border for all to admire.
The Menorah is just one of 15,000 Menorahs on public display around the world spreading the message of peace and kindness. In addition to the Menorah and its eight candles, which represent the eight days of Channukkah, the dreidel is also a very popular symbol of the holiday.
A dreidel is a spinning top that kids played with during the time of the story of Chanukkah. It has four Hebrew letters on its sides (nun, gimel, shin, hei), which together form an acronym for "Nes Gadol Hayah Sham", meaning "a great miracle happened there." Each side represents an action -- either putting coins into a pot, taking all the coins in a pot or taking none.
Like any other big holiday, traditional food is a big part of the celebration. Some popular Chanukkah dishes you may have never heard of include latkes, a fried potato pancake, and donuts. Foods fried with oil are very popular with the holiday because it's a way for Jewish people to celebrate the Miracle of Oil, which is the story of a small bit of oil that lasted much longer than expected and lit a Menorah for eight days.
The Outlets at the Border partnered with other local business like Soapy Joe's Car Wash and Oil Change to make the Chanukkah celebration happen.