ADAMS TWP — The Cranberry Jewish Community Association on Friday evening held what it hopes was the first of many traditional kickoffs to Hanukkah.

About 37 people ranging from 2 to 92 years old attended the Hanukkah Warm-Up Celebration at the Gables clubhouse, where the smell of latkes and sweet red wine blended with the warmth and affection shared by revelers.

Hanukkah began on Tuesday evening. It is celebrated for eight consecutive nights with special songs, food and a present every night.

Friday evening marked the inaugural Hanukkah event for the Cranberry Jewish Community Association, which was formed late last year to afford Jewish residents of southwestern Butler County the opportunity to associate with others of their religion and heritage.

“It's a wonderful gathering of people in the community who want to express their religion with people they don't know,” said association president Jack Cohen.

The evening started with the traditional Shabbat prayer, which celebrates the beginning of the Jewish sabbath Friday just before nightfall.

Sweet red wine is passed around a candle ceremony that blesses the sabbath.

A motzi prayer blesses the challah, or egg bread, also passed around during the ceremony. All prayers are recited in Hebrew.

After the prayers, the group enjoyed a buffet of traditional Hanukkah foods. In addition to several pastries, cookies and doughnuts, latkes were the featured fare.

The dish consists of shredded potato patties, served with either sour cream or applesauce, which are fried in oil to commemorate the miracle of the oil that occurred in the second century B.C. At that time, oil meant for one night miraculously burned for eight nights to purify a Jewish temple defiled by Roman troops.

The miracle of the oil has been celebrated by the Jewish each year since then as Hanukkah.

After the repast Friday night, celebrants took turns telling their stories of the menorahs they had brought to the celebration before lighting them.

The menorah holds nine candles including the shamus candle, which is used to light the other candles.

The shamus is used to light the end candle on the first night of Hanukkah, and again on the second night, when the first candle plus another are lighted. An additional candle is lighted each night until all eight candles are lit.

All the candles on each of the 15 or so menorahs showcased Friday evening were lighted to show their beauty, and they provided a blazing spectacle for all to see.

“This is the first time in Cranberry where Jewish people got together to celebrate Hanukkah,” Cohen said to those taking in the display. “As bright as these lights are, I hope the future is also that bright.”

Those in attendance appreciated the formation of the Cranberry Jewish Community Association.

“I'm thrilled because I've met some wonderful new friends,” said Sandi Hewko of Adams Township.

She said she and three other association members get together every two weeks to have lunch and play mahjong at one another's homes.

Enjoying the traditional fare on the buffet Friday were Alan and Bernice Offstein, who reside at the Sherwood Oaks retirement community.

Alan, who was celebrating his 92nd Hanukkah, said he appreciates the camaraderie of the association. His wife appreciates having fellow Jews in the immediate area.

“It's very handy,” Bernice said, “and they are all very pleasant people.”

Jenny Mitnick of Zelienople has been active in the association since its inception and was encouraged by the turnout and atmosphere Friday night.

“I am very excited,” she said. “There are a lot more Jews in the area than I ever thought there would be. It's a wonderful opportunity to meet people of all different ages.”

She said the association will continue to plan outreach events.

Cohen's wife Janine, who is Catholic, said the couple's two daughters are Catholic and their son, Jonathan, is Jewish and celebrated his bar mitzvah when he was an adolescent.

Janine recalled an incident when Jonathan was 7 years old, when a neighbor looked down his nose at the boy and asked “What do you people do for the holidays?”

“He said, ‘We're lucky. We get to celebrate Christmas and Hanukkah,' ” she remembered proudly.

The Cohens have a Christmas tree in the living room and a menorah in the dining room. They allowed their children to choose a religion to study when they became old enough to decide, which coincides with an important decision the couple made upon their marriage 33 years ago.

“We made a commitment that with all the problems in the world, our religion is not going to be one of them,” Janine said.

All three of the Cohens' grown children and their families attended the celebration Friday night, and two young grandchildren scurried between the cookies and a stuffed Rabbi toy that sang the Hanukkah song “Dreidel, Dreidel Dreidel.”

One reveler, Cranberry Township's director of communications Peter Longini, praised Cohen for assembling the group and establishing a Jewish community in the Cranberry Township area.

“Plus this is a way of showing that Cranberry is more diverse than people think.”

More information on the association and its activities is available at www.cranberryjewishcommunity.org.