Hanukkah, Kwanzaa celebrations draw families, communities together across Philly

PHILADELPHIA - Christmas may be over, but there are still other cultural and religious celebrations taking place this week across the Delaware Valley. Families and communities gathered together in observance of Hanukkah and Kwanzaa in Philadelphia.

"I have a little dreidel. I made it out of clay," sang the crowd. A holiday gathering in Rittenhouse Thursday night on the second day of Hanukkah.

"It's so nice that we have a chance to celebrate Hanukkah in Philly for a little bit," said Talia Braverman. She and her family found the celebration while walking the square.

"There's just something lovely about the lights and the community spirit of Hanukkah. It is a little special and a little different," said Swan.

Those gathered also had sufganiyot, or fried jelly donuts eaten during the Jewish festival. Rabbanit Hadas Fruchter gave the community blessing.

"It's like this inward and outward look. Inward in our homes. We light the candles and remind ourselves of our internal miracles. But we also put them in the window, and we say let us broadcast those miracles outward," said Rabbanit Fruchter, who is with the South Philadelphia Shtiebel.

The night ended with the menorah lighting. "And bring our light to the entire city of Philadelphia," said a man ahead of the lighting.

Later in the evening, at the African American Museum, families filled the place to light the kinara on day one of Kwanzaa, celebrating the first of seven principals which is Umoja for unity.

"To celebrate each other and to celebrate the ancestors," said a woman during the lighting.

Organizers say the Pan-African and African American holiday focuses on cultural traditions that uplift family and community.

"It's a good way to interact with culture and also to learn a little bit more and find some good grounding principles to carry you into the new year," said Morgan Lloyd, who is the program director for the AAM. There was live music, drumming and food.

"It's just important as a great reminder of unity of the celebration that we can have with other people," said Myriam Simpierre. Her wife and their two children traveled from Brooklyn, New York to take part.

"Learn something new. Learn something different and have pride in their heritage," she said, about bringing the kids.