Chanukah and Hope

A U.S. SOLDIER IN IRAQ, SEEKING SERVICE FOR HIS COUNTRY, REFLECTS ON THE HOLIDAY

For First Lieutenant Steven Katz, of Deerfield, "Chanukah is always a time of hope ... a time to be grateful ... and reflect on my brothers in arms."

Katz's words have a special poignancy, because he is currently with the U.S. Army in Iraq, on his second tour of duty. It's not likely he will be celebrating Chanukah with other Jews there this year.

Katz, 27, a combat engineer with Charlie Company, 9th Engineer Battalion, is stationed in Ramadi, in central Iraq, about 70 miles west of Baghdad.

In an e-mail to the Jewish Star this week, he described the area, which is mostly Sunni, as …