LOS ANGELES (KTLA) – Jews around the world are marking the start of Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights, which celebrates the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem in the second century B.C. after it was defiled by Syrian Greeks.

This eight-day holiday starts on the 25th of Kislev in the Hebrew calendar, usually falling in December. In 2024, Hanukkah begins at sundown on December 25 and ends at sundown on January 2, 2025.

The story of Hanukkah begins in 168 B.C. when the Seleucid king Antiochus IV Epiphanes banned Jewish religious practices and desecrated the Second Temple by setting up an altar to Zeus and sacrificing pigs.

This led to a revolt led by the Jewish priest Mattathias and his five sons, known as the Maccabees.

The Seleucid Empire, one of the successor states of Alexander the Great’s empire, was vast and powerful.

Judah Maccabee, one of Mattathias’s sons, and his followers fought a guerrilla war against the Seleucids.

Despite being vastly outnumbered, the Maccabees won several battles and eventually took back Jerusalem. When they reclaimed the Temple, they found only a small amount of oil left to light the menorah, the Temple’s candelabrum. The oil, believed to only be enough for one day, lasted for eight days.

This ancient miracle is the basis of Hanukkah, which means “dedication” in Hebrew.

Jews celebrate the holiday by lighting the menorah, with one more candle lit each night until all eight are lit on the final night. Traditional foods like latkes (potato pancakes) and sufganiyot (jelly-filled doughnuts) are fried in oil, symbolizing the miracle of the oil.

Other customs include playing the game of dreidle and exchanging gifts.

Although Hanukkah is not as religiously significant as holidays such as Passover or Yom Kippur, it holds a special place in Jewish culture as a reminder of the Jewish people’s resilience and faith in the face of oppression.

Homicide detectives and loved ones are searching for a missing Los Angeles County woman.

Maria Benitez, 41, was reported missing on Dec. 21, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

The woman, who is considered at-risk, was last seen on the 5500 block of Lindsey Avenue in Pico Rivera around 12:30 p.m.

Family members said Benitez suffers from medical conditions and requires medication. They haven’t heard from her since her disappearance concerned for her well-being and asking for the public’s help.

She is described as a Hispanic woman standing 5 feet tall and weighing around 100 pounds. She has brown hair, brown eyes and a scar on her right ankle. She was last seen wearing a black shirt and black pants.

Her vehicle is described as a gray 2008 Nissan Altima with California license plate 6EPB787.

Anyone who knows Benitez’s whereabouts or has information on her disappearance is urged to call the LASD’s Homicide Bureau Missing Persons unit at 323-890-5500.

Anonymous tips can be provided to L.A. Regional Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or online at lacrimestoppers.org.

LOS ANGELES (KTLA) – Some 40,000 Southern California Edison customers were without power on Christmas Eve after a transformer failed in the Downey-Norwalk area earlier in the afternoon.  

According to SCE’s outage map, the problems began around 1:30 p.m., with Kathleen Dunleavy, a spokesperson for Southern California Edison, telling KTLA that the utility company did not have a timeframe for when power would be restored.  

“Our crews are on scene working to restore power as quickly and as safely as possible. We recognize that this is a tough time to be without power, right before a holiday,” Dunleavy said. “We recognize that this is an incredibly important situation, and we want to get the power back up for our customers.”  

Metro’s C (Green) Line trains were temporarily halted between the Norwalk and Willowbrook/Rose Park stops as a result of the outage, though normal C Line train service resumed right around 5 p.m., Metro officials said in a post to X, formerly Twitter.  

Officials in the City of Downey deployed police to help manage traffic control at intersections where traffic lights were out.  

“We encourage residents to exercise caution when driving through affected areas,” officials said in a statement.  

There were also reports of last-minute Christmas shoppers perusing the darkened aisles of local retailers also affected by the outage.