NEW HAVEN – A 50-car motorcade bearing lighted menorahs wound its way through New Haven Sunday evening, an act that really illuminated the true spirit of Hanukkah: Going into the streets and bringing light to the world. On Sunday, Chabad Centers of Greater New Haven led the faithful in a first-ever parade from the Green to the Southern Connecticut Hebrew Academy on Route 34 in Orange.
"We always have to innovate; it’s not enough to keep doing what you have done last year," said Rabbi Sheya Hecht of the Chabad Centers of Greater New Haven, who led the lighting of a 20-foot menorah just after 4 p.m. "That’s the message of Hanukkah — that each day whatever we accomplish we have to do more," he said. "It’s a message for humanity."
About 150 people, including Mayor John DeStefano Jr., Board of Aldermen President Carl Goldfield and newly-elected 28th Ward Alderman Mordechai Sandman, gathered on the Green just across the street from the three historic Christian churches representative of the city’s Puritan roots.
Sunday’s ceremony seemed to cement the Green as a meeting place for all faiths and beliefs.
Traditional Hanukkah songs played over loudspeakers, children ran around playing, and families made the rounds greeting friends. DeStefano, Goldfield and Sandman did the honors to light three lamps atop a 20-foot tall menorah, signifying each day of Hanukkah since the holiday began Friday at sundown.
And this year’s celebration had a special significance for some, coming on the heels of a two-day conference held in Iran questioning the existence and scale of the Holocaust, and continued violence and terrorism across the globe, Hecht said.
Others said that the turmoil and outrage over Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s holding of the conference and calls for Israel’s destruction factored little into the holiday.
"We hope they’ll see the light and let the Jews live, but that’s an everyday thing — it has nothing to do with Hanukkah," said Mordecai Deitsch of New Haven with a shrug. "It’s a very comfortable holiday; you can eat, you can celebrate and everyone gets together and tells stories."
Hanukkah, also known as the Festival of Lights, Feast of Dedication, and Feast of the Maccabees, celebrates the victory of a numerically inferior Jewish army in defeating the Syrians almost 2000 years ago and reclaiming a temple that had been defiled. Relighting the menorah, the Jews only had enough oil to last one day, but the lamps burned for eight days instead.
Joel Hoffman, who moved to New Haven with his family from New Orleans two years ago, said the holiday is less a celebration of the reclaiming of the temple and more about religious freedom. It is a triumph of the right for Jews to celebrate their religion as they wish without interference, he said.
New Haven’s menorah-lighting ceremony was one of about 5,000 public ceremonies expected to take place across the globe Sunday. And Hecht said that the underlying message of Hanukkah is one that should give hope to everyone, regardless of religion.
"If we can just bring a little bit of light into the world, of kindness and compassion, a little bit of light dispels a lot of darkness," Hecht said. "You cannot beat darkness with a stick."
"We always have to innovate; it’s not enough to keep doing what you have done last year," said Rabbi Sheya Hecht of the Chabad Centers of Greater New Haven, who led the lighting of a 20-foot menorah just after 4 p.m. "That’s the message of Hanukkah — that each day whatever we accomplish we have to do more," he said. "It’s a message for humanity."
About 150 people, including Mayor John DeStefano Jr., Board of Aldermen President Carl Goldfield and newly-elected 28th Ward Alderman Mordechai Sandman, gathered on the Green just across the street from the three historic Christian churches representative of the city’s Puritan roots.
Sunday’s ceremony seemed to cement the Green as a meeting place for all faiths and beliefs.
Traditional Hanukkah songs played over loudspeakers, children ran around playing, and families made the rounds greeting friends. DeStefano, Goldfield and Sandman did the honors to light three lamps atop a 20-foot tall menorah, signifying each day of Hanukkah since the holiday began Friday at sundown.
And this year’s celebration had a special significance for some, coming on the heels of a two-day conference held in Iran questioning the existence and scale of the Holocaust, and continued violence and terrorism across the globe, Hecht said.
Others said that the turmoil and outrage over Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s holding of the conference and calls for Israel’s destruction factored little into the holiday.
"We hope they’ll see the light and let the Jews live, but that’s an everyday thing — it has nothing to do with Hanukkah," said Mordecai Deitsch of New Haven with a shrug. "It’s a very comfortable holiday; you can eat, you can celebrate and everyone gets together and tells stories."
Hanukkah, also known as the Festival of Lights, Feast of Dedication, and Feast of the Maccabees, celebrates the victory of a numerically inferior Jewish army in defeating the Syrians almost 2000 years ago and reclaiming a temple that had been defiled. Relighting the menorah, the Jews only had enough oil to last one day, but the lamps burned for eight days instead.
Joel Hoffman, who moved to New Haven with his family from New Orleans two years ago, said the holiday is less a celebration of the reclaiming of the temple and more about religious freedom. It is a triumph of the right for Jews to celebrate their religion as they wish without interference, he said.
New Haven’s menorah-lighting ceremony was one of about 5,000 public ceremonies expected to take place across the globe Sunday. And Hecht said that the underlying message of Hanukkah is one that should give hope to everyone, regardless of religion.
"If we can just bring a little bit of light into the world, of kindness and compassion, a little bit of light dispels a lot of darkness," Hecht said. "You cannot beat darkness with a stick."
Phil Helsel can be reached at 876-3028 or at phelsel@nhregister.com .
No comments:
Post a Comment