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Tonya Marten demonstrates the lighting of a Hanukkiah, also known as a 9-branch menorah, Tuesday night in her Las Cruces home. Hanukkah, the Jewish Festival of Lights, an eight-day commemoration of rededication of the Temple by the Maccabees after their victory over the Syrians, begins today at sundown.

LAS CRUCES - The Las Cruces Jewish community will mark Hanukkah this year with congregation gatherings, candle-lighting ceremonies in homes each night and a public celebration in the Mesilla plaza this weekend.

The eight-day festival of Hanukkah begins tonight at sundown. It marks a historic, underdog victory by the Jewish rebels against their Greek overlords two millenia ago.

Gift-giving is one tradition of the holiday. But another central practice is the lighting of a candelabrum, a special menorah called the hanukkiah.

Tonight, families will light one of nine candles on the branched menorah, said Rabbi Bery Schmukler, director of Chabad of Southern New Mexico. A day later, they'll light the first and second, and so on as the holiday progresses, he said.

"It's a universal message," he said. "We're showing that light can overcome darkness; good overcomes evil."

Chabad of Southern New Mexico will host a Hanukkah celebration Sunday afternoon at the plaza in Mesilla that's open to Jews and non-Jews alike, Schmukler said. For the first time, he said, Las Cruces Mayor Ken Miyagishima and Mesilla Mayor Nora Barraza will participate. A 9-foot menorah will be lit, he said, and there's no charge to attend.

Schmukler described last year's event at the Mesilla plaza, attended by about 100 people, as "very, very positive."

"It was members of all walks of life," he said. "It was a beautiful, community holiday event."

Schmukler said two menorahs will also be stationed

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at the Albertsons stores on Lohman Avenue and El Paseo Road during the holiday.

Also called the Festival of Lights, the annual holiday marks the Jews' recapturing of their Jerusalem temple from the more-powerful Seleucid Empire in 165 B.C. They removed a statue of the invaders' ruler and took steps to purify the temple.

Rabbi Paul Citrin of Temple Beth-El said Hanukkah marks a historical struggle by the Jews for the "right to be different" and "in a majority culture, to have one's own traditions." In today's often-polarized society, he said Hanukkah continues to carry a relevant message.

"We all thrive when there's mutual respect and we make space for each other's cultures and observances and when we listen to each other," he said.

Continued Citrin: "I, as a modern Jew and religious person, would say, whenever an individual or a group of people stand up for freedom of expression or for democracy, in a sense that is God working through human beings," he said. "And we think about that this season, as well."

Schmukler, too, said the importance of religious freedom is a key theme in the holiday.

Citrin said that congregation plans a special Hanukkah family service at 5:45 p.m. Friday evening that will be followed up by a potluck and games for children. And a high school youth group will host a party Sunday to raise money for charity.

Also, Etz Chayim-Tree of Life, a Messianic Jewish congregation in Las Cruces, plans a get-together to mark the start of the holiday.

Schmukler said Chabad of Southern New Mexico will host a women's holiday cooking class on Thursday, and people can still call to sign up.

Diana M. Alba can be reached at (575) 541-5443

If you go

• What: Hanukkah ceremony

• When: 4:30 p.m. Sunday

• Where: historic plaza in Mesilla

• Info: 524-1330 or www.jewishlc.com