Dreidels and Yahtzee. Latkes and fried rice. These unlikely combinations set the scene for an ISU faculty Hanukkah celebration.

On Dec. 13, the second night of Hanukkah, Jewish Iowa State professors and their families, about 40 people in total, filled the quaint confines of the Margaret Sloss Women’s Center near Curtiss Hall to celebrate the Festival of Lights.

“Chinese food has become a part of the American-Jewish tradition, in a way,” said John Pleasants as he nodded toward a dining table adorned with a mixed-matched assortment of traditional Jewish cuisine and Chinese takeout.

“A lot of restaurants are closed during the holidays, with Christmas happening, but Chinese places are usually open. A lot of Jewish families in places like New York made it a tradition to eat Chinese during Hanukkah,” he continued. Pleasants is an assistant professor of ecology.

Jewish families traditionally eat foods fried in oil during Hanukkah. This is to commemorate the cruse of oil which lasted eight nights instead of one after the rededication of the Jewish Temple.

“Hanukkah itself means ‘dedication.’ Some might see it as a fight against assimilation,” Pleasants said, citing the Israelite overthrow of their Seleucid conquerors.

For some, Hanukkah represents togetherness as much as honoring historic battles.

“Our tradition might seem different, but people who celebrate anything typically focus on the same thing: Being together with friends and family,” said Dara Wald, assistant professor of environmental communication. “At the core, a lot of Hanukkah celebrations might be similar, but every family develops little traditions of their own.”

Meeting at the Women’s Center is a new tradition. This is the first time Jewish faculty organized a celebration like this in years. Mira Engler has been at Iowa State for 28 years, and found it hard to remember the last time Jewish faculty had gathered like this.

“It’s been a long time, a dozen years maybe, since there’s been a Jewish faculty event,” said Engler, professor of landscape architecture.

Engler came to Iowa State from Israel nearly three decades ago.

“It’s an interesting way to bring people together, it’s really more of a cultural group than a religious one,” Engler said with a smile, observing a toddler shake up dreidels and dice in Yahtzee cup.

The faculty Hanukkah was organized by Wald, fellow professor Christina Gish Hill and other Jewish faculty.

“We thought our group was kind of underrepresented, so we met with the vice president of diversity and inclusion and we got cleared for the event in no time,” Wald remembered.

Hill is an assistant professor of anthropology and American Indian studies. She noted the ironic fact that Hanukkah is one of the smaller Jewish holidays, but it’s probably the most popular one in American pop culture.

“Yom Kippur, Passover… these are really the much bigger Jewish holidays, but we’ve sort of made our own modern Hanukkah with Christmas being right there,” Hill said.

Pleasants pointed out how the timing of Hanukkah as well as children’s education might play a factor in this phenomenon.

“I think it has a lot to do with school. Young children are in class and they’re learning about Christmas, and teachers are inclusive so they teach about Hanukkah and have a Jewish parent speak to the class or something, so it’s the holiday every kid learns about.” Pleasants added.

Pleasants also described how gift giving has become more emphasized during Hanukkah as time goes on.

“Christmas is so pervasive. The songs are everywhere, and it seems to start before Thanksgiving. As an adult you can tune it out but it’s influential for children,” he said.

Freezing cold winds battered the windows and porch doors of the Women’s Center while children cozily ate jelly donuts and the menorahs were lit. The bright flickering candle lights stood out sharply against the harsh winter environment.

“I really love the juxtaposition Hanukkah offers,” Hill said. “It’s so cold outside, and it gets dark so fast, but then there’s all this light!”

Wald thinks the faculty Hanukkah could become an Iowa State tradition for years to come.