Parashat Mikets (מקץ – at the end), Genesis 41:1 – 44:17, Rosh ‘Hodesh Tévet, Hanukkah
The parsha Mikets are read during Hanukkah. Let us propose to find that this is the allusion to Hanukkah in this parsha. The Feast begins on 25 Kislev. Each day we light one more candle than the day before. The word נר (ner = candle) has a numerical value of 250 (נ = 50 and ר = 200). The Feast lasts 8 days. If we multiply 250 by 8, we get 2000. By adding 25 (date of the month of Kislev), we get a total of 2025. This corresponds to the number of words in the parsha Mikets.
The Tomsk Choral Synagogue is located in Siberia. Its history begins in 1850, with the construction of a wooden building. This was replaced in 1902 by a two-storey brick building. In 1929, the synagogue was closed by the Soviet authorities and moved from one institution to another. It successively became a cinema, a military school, an oblast tribunal, … In 1999, the building, which was damaged, was returned to the Jewish community. In December 2002, restoration works were undertaken and were completely completed in 2010.
The synagogue was inaugurated on December 8, 2010, the 7th day of Hanukkah and Roch Hodesh Tévet. The opening ceremony begins with the lighting of the Hanukkah candles, followed by a Ha’hnassat Sefer Torah. After this ceremony, the first stones of the school and kindergarten are laid.