We are now in the middle of the week-long Hanukkah holiday in Israel, which is of course a little different this year amid the ongoing coronavirus crisis.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu marked the start of the holiday by lighting a massive Hanukkah menorah (Hanukkiah) together with US Ambassador David Friedman at the Western Wall in Jerusalem.

Shoppers walk past Hanukkah menorahs, or hanukkiyot, at Jerusalem’s Mahane Yehuda market ahead of the first night of Hanukkah last Friday.

The government initially wanted to impose a daily 5:30 pm curfew and forbid Israelis from visiting the homes of others, even family members, during Hanukkah. The move was meant to further lower the rate of daily new COVID-19 infections. But public outcry forced the government to scrap the plan.

Eitan Elhadez-Barak/TPS

Collector Gil Rubin from Haifa shows off his ancient and unique hanukkiyot.

Instead of a Hanukkah curfew, the government warned that if daily new infections rise again to 2,500 or more, then it will impose a full closure on malls, shopping centers and most local businesses.

Hanukkah simply wouldn’t be complete without the tasty filled donuts known as sufganyot.

Meanwhile, many things in Israel are open again, albeit with limitations on the number of people allowed entry. And this is good news since all of our children are on Hanukkah vacation from school (which thankfully are also still open).