Eastern Shore Celebrates Festival Of Lights - WMDT 47 News - Delmarva's Choice

SALISBURY, Md. - Hanukkah is an eight-night family celebration.

For some, it means opening presents each night. 

For others, it's about lighting the menorah.

From different backgrounds and even from different countries, for this small Jewish community on the Eastern Shore, Hanukkah is a sense unity.

"When I first moved here, I was thrilled to find an actual synagogue in town," said Susan Lewis-Pasciga. "Most of my friends are from the synagogue."

"We always see somebody on the street and say 'hey, what's up? I'll see you in the synagogue," said Alex Failaev.

Failaev is an owner at the family-run Pemberton Coffeehouse in Salisbury.  An Israeli, he said the celebration here is nothing like his birthplace.  

"In Israel, you see the menorahs in every window of every house...and you have those bakery shops that open up just once a year," said Failaev.    

But as the community celebrates with the lighting of the menorah, their candle labrum, this theme of Hanukkah resonates for the Jewish faith throughout the Eastern Shore.

"It's the celebration of the survival of Judaism against all odds," said Rabbi Arnold L. Bienstock, Beth Israel Congregation. "[It's] the survival of the small religious culture and heritage."