YOUNGSTOWN — During the eight days of Hanukkah, the Youngstown Area Jewish Federation will display a 9-foot menorah in front of the Jewish Community Center of Youngstown, 505 Gypsy Lane.

Hanukkah begins at sundown Wednesday.

Federation officials said Hanukkah is the Jewish eight-day wintertime “festival of lights,” celebrated with a nightly menorah lighting, special prayers and fried foods.

A nine-branched candelabrum is lit on Hanukkah. One candle, the shamas, is used to light the others.

Hanukkah commemorates the rededication of the Second Temple after the Maccabean Revolt when Jews rose up against their Greek-Syrian oppressors.

It also celebrates the miracle of light, when the oil in the menorah in the Second Temple stayed lit for eight days, even though there was only enough oil for one day.