A church that celebrates Hanukkah

Call him “rabbi” because he prefers that over “pastor.”

Harrison Sommer, 66, will be presiding over the Hanukkah service at 7:00 p.m. tonight at the Lighthouse Church in Santa Monica.

Hanukkah at church?

“It’s what Jesus celebrated at this time of year,” Sommer said. “The Christians who follow after Jesus need to follow him in his celebrations. The message of Hanukkah applies to Christians as well.”

Sommer – a lawyer and a top mediator in California – was raised a good Jewish boy. He ran afoul of some religious expectations, however, when he married a gentile girl in 1976.

The next year, he read about Jeff Koenig, a leader of Jews for Jesus, in Time Magazine and was intrigued. A week later, his wife, who was studying at UCLA, happened to sit next to Koenig in a college course. He invited her to a shabbat service for Jews and Christians.

Sommer marveled at the coincidence. At the same time, the idea of meetings open to both Jews and Christians appealed to him.

“I thought, ‘I‘m Jewish. My wife’s Christian. One day we’re going to have kids. This sounds perfect,’” Sommer said.

The couple went to the Friday night meeting in West Hollywood, and the portrayal of Jesus as the Jewish Messiah troubled him as much as it tantalized him.

So in typical lawyerly fashion, Sommer set out to scrutinize the evidence.

“I studied it out. I cross-examined it,” he said. “It made sense once I understood it. I had presumed the New Testament was all anti-Jewish rhetoric. I was surprised to see the works of Jesus.”

After considerable reading and pondering, Sommer could no longer accept the typical downgrade of Jesus to only “a wise teacher.” On the other hand, the notion that Jesus was a raving lunatic didn’t seem plausible, he said.

“I kept thinking, ‘What are the chances that somebody millions of people follow could be a lunatic?’” he said.

Eventually, Harrison subscribed to New Testament theology, but he insists he never “converted” from Judaism. As he sees it, the Jewish tradition is waiting for the coming of the Messiah. So he’s still Jewish

Since 1988 when was named assistant pastor at Lighthouse, Sommer teaches about Old Testament festivals regularly. He officiates Passover, the High Holy Days and Hannukah, which comes from the Maccabees cleansing the Jewish temple of pagan desecration.

The story holds that they found only enough oil to burn in the lamp for one day, but miraculously it burned for eight days while new oil was prepared.

“Teaching the Jewish holidays in the Christian church adds a depth to their faith,” he said. “It brings a richness of the the Jewish tradition and history.”

Sommer turned to mediating in 2007 after 32 years as a trial lawyer representing plaintiffs. Twice he received Los Angeles Daily Journal’s recognition for being a top mediator in California. He and his wife, Pam, have six children.

Rabbi Sommer doesn’t feel out of place worshiping with Gentiles. “It’s where I was placed and planted, and it’s where my relationships grew,” he says. “It’s been a way for God to use me to get the message of the Jews to the Gentiles.”