(Provided photo - Metro)

LAKE PLACID — On the first night of Hanukkah this year, the light of the menorah shone bright from afar.

From his home in Lake Placid, Rabbi Alec Friedmann of the Lake Placid Synagogue led a virtual menorah lighting on Thursday night. He plans to do the same each night until Dec. 17.

At this time of year, the synagogue’s social hall would normally be lined with menorahs. Families would come together to light the candles one by one and eat special foods — bagels and cream cheese, and perhaps latkes or donuts, depending on where your family was from and their economic status, according to Friedmann. But this tradition, like so many others, has moved online as the coronavirus pandemic continues.

“We’re keeping in line with our policy of not opening the synagogue, which we haven’t done since the beginning of the epidemic,” Friedmann said. “We’re going to be lighting the candles on Zoom, doing it every night, as safely as we can.”

These lightings, at 7:30 p.m. each night, are open to everyone. Those who want to attend, or want to donate to the synagogue, can contact Susan Semegram at sue@lakeplacidsynagogue.org for more information.

Hanukkah, or the Festival of Lights, is celebrated with a series of rituals each day. The holiday celebrates the rededication of the Second Temple of Jerusalem by a group of Jewish warriors, who rose up against a Seleucid king who outlawed Jewish religion and sent soldiers to murder Jewish people and desecrate their temple. The Talmud says warriors who participated in the rededication experienced a miracle: Though they believed they only had enough oil to keep the menorah’s candles lit for one day, the candles’ flames burned for eight nights.

“It’s time to bring some light into the darkness of winter,” Friedmann said. “We picked up the custom of giving gifts to our neighbors, because you have to compete with Christmas. The traditional thing is to give gifts of food to those who don’t have, so that everybody can celebrate. We do that a lot throughout the year.”

The Lake Placid Synagogue continues to host virtual Shabbat services, the next one is on Dec. 18. Rabbi Friedmann is available over Zoom every Monday at 7:30 p.m. for anyone who wants to talk about anything Jewish.