HAVERHILL — Hanukkah has always been a special time for Pat Whitman.
She got married during the eight-day holiday 16 years ago and converted to Judaism last year, also during the Festival of Lights.
Tomorrow, Whitman, 50, will mark another personal milestone on the second day of Hanukkah.
Whitman, of Atkinson, N.H., will read from the Torah as she becomes a bat mitzvah at Temple Emanu-El, 514 Main St.
Hanukkah commemorates the rededication of the temple in Jerusalem. In 165 B.C., Judah Maccabee and his brothers led a victorious battle over the Syrians, who had forced them to worship Greek gods. After the temple was desecrated, Maccabee found enough oil to last eight days, thus the reason Hanukkah is held for that long.
Rabbi Ira Korinow, spiritual leader of Temple Emanu-El said Hanukkah means dedication and its root word comes from education.
"It implies that in the meaning of education is dedication and she is a model of both," Korinow said.
"Bat mitzvah means being responsible for living a life of the Torah, which guides the Jewish people. In her case, it affirms her commitment to Judaism, the Jewish people and Jewish studies," he said.
Whitman's journey into Judaism started two years ago, when she was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. She wanted to quench her spiritual thirst after her surgery.
"I realized that I had been missing God's presence in my life as well as a community of people to foster my deep, but untapped, faith," she said.
"I was never angry, but I was sad and scared. I was afraid I was going to die, so I wanted to convert fast," she said.
But Korinow's wife, Gail, urged her to have a total Jewish experience, including attending Shabbat dinners and Seder suppers at Passover with the Korinows.
Whitman also was a regular at Saturday morning's Shabbat services, first sitting by herself and having trouble following the liturgy. She learned how to read Hebrew gradually and even led the congregation in prayer.
She then became active sitting on the committee to choose the new cantor and serving on the board of directors.
"Judaism helped save my life. It gave me something positive to focus on," she said.
She was no stranger to Judaism. Growing up in Metuchen, N.J., there was a synagogue at the end of her street and she was very close with her Jewish friends. They even bought her a Hamsa necklace, a symbol of the blessing hand of God, when she graduated from high school.
Whitman and her husband, Jay Levinson, who is Jewish, have a 12-year-old daughter, Emma, who attends the temple's religious education program.
Whitman is glad she did not hurry into becoming a Jew by choice.
"It wasn't done out of fear, but understanding it fully," Whitman said. "Part of this whole journey is that God was there as a support."
She said she could not have done it without the support of her fellow members, who not only offered her rides to radiation treatments, but gave her inspirational books to lift her spirits.
A friend even gave her a siddur, a traditional Jewish prayer book and Chumas, the first five books of Moses, which belong to another friend's father, a Holocaust survivor.
"This metaphor spoke to me. I felt as if God was telling me that I, too, could beat the odds if I had faith and trusted my spirit," she said.
Because of that she chose "Chaya," Hebrew for life, and "Emmunah," or faith, as her Hebrew name.
One of the readings at tomorrow's service is of Joseph and his brothers' plan to do him harm. She said that portion talks about God's power in people's lives, which bring hope and healing in times of strife, pain and fear.
As she lights the candles on the menorah, she sees the flame as a sign of hope.
"Hanukkah is light and hope. It's God's presence in my life," Whitman said.
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