In 2019, MarthaStewart.com named Hanukkah: The Festival of Light at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, one of the top eight Hanukkah celebrations in the U.S. Since the founding of the program in 2014, thousands of people have experienced the light and miracle of Hanukkah through the world-class museum, the Judaica collection, music throughout the galleries, art making, and a community candle-lighting. 

There is a reason it is one of my favorite nights of the year, and the 11th annual celebration is scheduled to be the most festive yet with more music than ever. Beginning the evening with a parade, a lively welcoming of the Hanukkah light that starts at the grand Huntington Avenue entrance, musicians and dancers will parade past the art of Salvador Dalí and more as they make their way to the heart of the museum.   

This parade is the vision of musician Nat Seelen, who has been a central part of the program for many of those years, first as the leader of Ezekiel’s Wheels Klezmer band, who brought a joyous Hanukkah party vibe to the museum. More recently, as the artistic director of the Boston Festival of New Jewish Music, Nat has helped curate a program that not only shares the light of Hanukkah, but also one that explores and celebrates the diversity of Jewish life and tradition.  

While Nat says, “This program is designed to make sure every minute has the magic of Hanukkah,” this is a taste of what to expect: 

  • In 2023, Rachel Linsky and her dancers premiered a work at the Hanukkah program called Gathering Sparks, an expression of her Yiddish dance language development. So joyously received as a performance and as a dance opportunity for the audience, it will return this year following performances at the Providence Jewish Festival and the Boston University Dance Theater. The 8 p.m. show includes a Yiddish dance lesson! 
  • Musicians and 2023 CJP x JArts Community Creative Fellows Yuval Gur and Lily Henley spent their fellowship imagining collaborations across their jazzy, Israeli, folk and Sephardic backgrounds. Now you can experience the result of this with their jazz-folk-infused Hanukkah performance. 
  • Thinking about the many traditions and languages through which we express Hanukkah, musicians Kirsten Lamb and Tutti Druyan will sing Hanukkah music in English, Ladino, Hebrew and Yiddish, featuring a swath of global Jewry. 

As Nat says, “We’ll sing Hanukkah, oh Hanukkah, of course, but we’re bringing in so many ideas that are part of this giant Jewish tradition and family that comes from all over the world—with themes that we can all connect to and grapple with. Light in the darkness speaks to everyone in our community…and I hope we all get up and dance!” 

The program falls two weeks before Hanukkah, so I hope you’ll join us on Thursday, Dec. 12, for this beautiful moment to help welcome the light of the season. 

The program begins at 5 p.m. Don’t miss out—get your ticket. Hope to see you there! 

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