On the eighth and final night of Hanukkah, Israeli actress and activist Noa Tishby was joined for candle lighting by popular Israeli actress Gal Gadot.
“As far as being a child in Israel and celebrating Hanukkah, I love the food, I love latkes, and I love the sufganiyot. Anything that's fried, I can eat. And I love winter, so this is the winter holiday,” Gadot said, recalling celebrating Hanukkah as a child.
On how she celebrates Hanukkah with her four girls, Gadot said, “We don't have a new family tradition, but because we're not living there in Israel, then it's important to us to make sure we mark every night, and we celebrate it every night, and we sing the songs. And the girls are fighting on who's going to light the menorah tonight, the hanukkiah. There's nothing about new traditions, but it's just preserving the traditions that we already have.”
“And I think that it's very symbolic, especially nowadays where the entire world is going through different turbulence, I think that there's something beautiful about families getting together and lighting candles, bringing light and hope. It's fun. It's important,” she added.
“One of the things I like most about Hanukkah is lighting the menorah. It's just lighting the candles. A candle is a small thing, but one candle can light another. And I think that there is something very symbolic about its meaning.”
Throughout Hanukkah, various celebrities joined Tishby to light the hanukiyah (Hanukkah menorah) for all eight nights of the holiday.
On the first night of Hanukkah, Tishby was joined by Academy Award-winning actress Gwyneth Paltrow. She was joined by Mila Kunis for the lighting of the second candle. On the third night, actress and host Mayim Bialik made an appearance.
Comedian, actress and television host Iliza Shlesinger joined Tishby for the fourth night of the holiday while author and CNN host Van Jones joined for the fifth night. Actress Cindy Crawford, whose husband Rande Gerber is Jewish, made an appearance on the sixth night of Hanukkah. Actress and comedian Tiffany Haddish lit the seventh candle with Tishby.