LOS ANGELES (CNS) - Free public menorah lightings to mark the first night of the Jewish festival of Hanukkah in Los Angeles and Orange counties will be held Sunday in Culver City, Santa Monica, Laguna Beach and Newport Beach.

A giant menorah lighting at The Culver Steps in Culver City will begin at 4:30 p.m. The event will also include live music, a magic show, latkes, doughnuts, chocolate "gelt"; craft-making and a caricatures artist.

Every child will receive a gift, according to Jewish Community of Culver City-Chabad, which is organizing the event and three other Hanukkah events in Culver City.

Free parking will be provided for one hour.

Additional menorah lightings in Culver City will be held Monday at 5 p.m. at Platform LA; Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. at Ivy Station; and Wednesday at 7 p.m. at The Shay Hotel.

Nightly menorah lightings at 5 p.m. in the 1400 block of the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica will begin Sunday and continue each night through the eighth and final night of Hanukkah next Sunday.

The surfboard menorah will be lit in the Cobblestone Area of Laguna Main Beach as part of an event beginning at 2 p.m. that will also include face painting, craft-making opportunities for children and latkes and gelt.

A menorah-lighting ceremony will be held at Fashion Island's Atrium Garden Court from 3 to 5 p.m. and include doughnuts, craft-making, face painting and gifts and treats for children.

Also on Monday, a menorah-lighting ceremony will begin at 5:30 p.m. at the Beverly Gardens Park Lily Pond in Beverly Hills.

Once the Jews defeated the Hellenist Syrian forces of Antiochus IV in 165 B.C. at the end of a three-year rebellion, the temple in Jerusalem, which the occupiers had dedicated to the worship of Zeus, was rededicated by Judah Maccabee, who led the insurgency begun by his father, the high priest Mattathias.

According to the story of Hanukkah, Maccabee and his soldiers wanted to light the temple's ceremonial lamp with ritually pure olive oil as part of their rededication but found only enough oil to burn for one day. The oil, however, burned for eight days in what was considered to be a miracle.

Hanukkah -- which means "dedication" in Hebrew -- is observed around the world by lighting candles in a special menorah called a Hanukkiah each day at sundown for eight days, with an additional candle added each day.

The reason for the lights is so that passersby should see them and be reminded of the holiday's miracle.

Other Hanukkah traditions include spinning a dreidel, a four-sided top, which partially commemorates a game that Jews under Greek domination are believed to have played to camouflage their Torah study, and eating foods fried in oil, such as latkes, pancakes of grated raw potatoes and jelly doughnuts.

Children receive Hanukkah "gelt" (the Yiddish word for money) from parents and grandparents. The tradition originated with 17th-century Polish Jews giving money to their children to give their teachers during Hanukkah, which led to parents also giving children money.

In the United States, the practice has evolved into giving holiday gifts to children and others.

"Every Hanukkah, we spin the toy top called a dreidel upon which are inscribed the words, `Nes gadol haya sham,' translated as, `A great miracle happened there.' Or, as our family and friends in Israel say, `A great miracle happened here,"' Rabbi Noah Farkas, president & chief executive officer of Jewish Federation Los Angeles, said in a statement to City News Service.

Bill Handel