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For once, Zalman Tiechtel feels like “singing in the streets.”

It doesn’t happen on most Jewish holidays: Most are quiet, private celebrations.

But as Hanukkah approaches, the rabbi at Lawrence’s Chabad Jewish Student Center wanted to tell the Lawrence community about the Jewish celebration of lights.

“The message of Hanukkah needs to be displayed in public,” Tiechtel said. “It’s about the concept that you are not to be ashamed of who you are.”

Not that shame or reclusiveness is part of other Jewish celebrations. That’s far from the truth, he said.

But during the season when Santa pops up in every shopping mall and parade and Christmas songs play over speakers in grocery stores, being Jewish can become more pronounced and more apparent.

“It brings out an awareness that you’re different — unique,” said Jay Lewis, executive director of Kansas University Hillel, a Jewish resource center.

That’s not a bad thing, many Lawrence Jews say. That’s what the holiday is all about.

The holiday itself follows the story of a small group of Jews who battled Greek oppression about 313 B.C.E. The candles of the menorah represent the light of the religion shining on.

Jews here are trying let that light shine — both for the holiday and otherwise.

But the eight-day holiday, which begins at sundown Friday, is different from other Jewish celebrations.

It is a time when many Jews are “searching” for a way to display their faith and tradition, Tiechtel said.

Not a difficult impulse when Lawrence Jews, like most people, get bombarded with Christmas messages over the holiday season, Tiechtel said. He estimated there are about 500 Jews in Lawrence.

Among them is KU graduate student Shana Beach, who grew up celebrating Judaism. She attended services twice a week, was bat mitzvahed at 13 and lit Sabbath candles after sundown on Fridays.

That upbringing, she said, made her feel part of the holiday season even while her friends and neighbors celebrated a different holiday.

“I felt proud enough of that that I didn’t feel left out by the Christmas stuff,” she said.

That feeling — not isolation, but uniqueness — helps Jews in Lawrence and elsewhere embrace the holidays.

“They’re seeking out Hanukkah because they see everything else Christmas,” Lewis said.

Tiechtel set up a large menorah this week on Wescoe Beach on KU’s campus.

As students walked by, it dawned on them, he said: It’s Hanukkah season, not just Christmas. From now until the end of the holiday, the menorah will be on the front lawn of the Chabad House, hoping to elicit the same reaction from passersby.

But Beach said that to her Hanukkah has become blended into a cultural season — a season of holidays for everyone, whether Jewish, Christian or otherwise.

“I look at Christmas as not so much a Christian thing but as an American thing,” she said.

And compared with other Jewish holy days — Rosh Hashanah, for example — Hanukkah represents a fairly minor celebration.

“The only reason that it has become a big holiday is because it happens at the same time as Christmas,” she said.

But still, Lawrence institutions Hillel and Chabad will continue to promote the holiday, if only as a way to promote awareness of a religion steeped in tradition, Tiechtel said.

This week, children at the Lawrence Public Library squeezed olives into oil — oil that then fueled a menorah.

The Chabad celebrated with a midnight meal for KU students needing a break from studying during finals week.

On Sunday night, after sundown, the largest menorah in town will shine from the yard of Chabad, 1203 W. 19th St. Folks will sing songs and eat holiday food. Everyone is invited.

And, as always, Tiechtel will have his family’s menorah lit in the window of his home for all to see.