For new Nashvillians, Hanukkah can be lonely. How a new celebration helps

On the fourth night of Hanukkah, Sherith Israel in West Nashville was alive with music, food and beer pong in blue cups, arranged like a menorah.

On the menu, a jelly donut inspired cocktail, drawn from the Hanukkah tradition of eating fried foods.

Daphne Logan, a member of Sherith Israel’s congregation, helped organize tonight’s event — one of eight the Jewish Federation of Greater Nashville planned to celebrate each night of Hanukkah.

As a recent transplant to Nashville, Logan said these events are important when you’re far from family, or don’t have one of your own yet.

“There are a lot of young Jewish adults who maybe are partnered, maybe aren’t, maybe don’t have kids yet, and are looking for community in ways that might be harder to find if you aren’t plugged in to the parent group at your kid’s school or something like that,” Logan said.

That’s also something on the mind of Emma Canter, who runs young adult programming for the Jewish Federation of Greater Nashville.

“The Jewish community, just like the rest of Nashville, has seen this exponential growth in the past 10, 15 years. And we know from our data that a lot of that is young professionals,” Canter said.

Bringing those young professionals together is part of Canter’s work at the federation.

“Sometimes ‘new to Nashville’ means I moved here yesterday, and sometimes ‘new to Nashville’ means, I’ve been here for three years, but just have never felt compelled to get involved with the Jewish community,” Cantor said. “Right now, this Hanukkah, in this moment after the shooting at Bondi beach, it feels really special for people to gather together.”

For many, the holiday has new meaning after the shooting at a Hanukkah celebration in Australia.

“It always feels good to bring light into the darkness, but I think right now there’s another layer of darkness. And it feels good to spread light in other ways, like with fun Hanukkah cocktails,” Canter said.

Tonight, the Hanukkah decorations aren’t the only blue and white lights. Nashville police were on site to provide security. In the new year, the federation will be hiring its own security director.

Still, Logan said that when she goes to worship, or celebrate with her community, she’s not worried.

“I don’t show up to Jewish events feeling afraid,” Logan said. “I feel proud. I feel excited. I feel really grateful.”