MADISON - A woman walked up Kings Road from downtown Madison early Saturday morning, not long after sunrise, past the Christmas displays erected annually by volunteers, past the entrance to the Madison Train Station opposite the Hartley Dodge Memorial building, walking east.
Along the grassy sward in front of the train station she came to the spot where a menorah had been lit in Hanukkah ceremonies five days earlier, and stopped.
"That looks like it's been vandalized," the woman said.
The lower left branch of the metal menorah had been broken off and was nowhere in sight. Eight of the menorah's nine electric candles had been ripped loose, six of them dangling by wires, the other two gone. Only the "shamash" or center "leader candle" remained in place, but at a lopsided angle. On the ground, a small floodlight that had been placed to illuminate the menorah at night had been pulled out of the soil and tossed aside.
The woman took in the damage, then shook her head. "That's terrible," she said finally before resuming her eastward walk. "What could someone hope to gain by that?"
That was a question on the minds of Madison officials, too, after they learned last Friday the menorah had been vandalized by person or persons unknown.
Days After Festivities
Mayor Ellwood Kerkeslager was in Atlanta, Ga., on a holiday trip when he got the phone call from Police Chief Vincent Chirico.
Kerkeslager had been on hand the previous Monday evening, Dec. 18, for the ceremonies to light the menorah, joining Rabbi Shalom Lubin, director of the Chabad Center of Southeast Morris County, which has its offices on Park Avenue in Madison.
About 75 people had turned out for the menorah lighting on the fourth night of Hanukkah, the Jewish "festival of lights" that commemorates the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, and the miracle of the one day's supply of oil that kept the temple menorah burning eight days.
At the Madison festivities there were the traditional warm potato pancakes called "latkes" and the jelly doughnuts called "sufganiot," and Hanukkah play money for the children, and music. The evening was unseasonably warm. It was a good time, and Rabbi Lubin was looking forward to menorah lightings the next three nights in neighboring towns.
Now it was Friday and Mayor Kerkeslager was in Atlanta on his cell phone, getting the bad news from Chief Chirico.
The mayor immediately called Rabbi Lubin, couldn't reach him, and "left a message for him, apologizing," Kerkeslager related Saturday.
The mayor said he told the rabbi in his message: "This is unacceptable. This is not Madison."
Kerkeslager added Saturday, "We will not put up with this. I know the police are devoting all the resources to it they can."
The mayor noted the Dec. 18 ceremonies had marked the eighth year for the lighting of a menorah in Madison, in keeping with the traditional Christmas decorations along Kings Road near the train station. Kerkeslager has attended one of those lightings as a Borough Council member, and the past three as mayor.
He said of the vandalism, "It certainly doesn't represent the spirit and the attitude of Madison."
After four nights of outdoor Hanukkah lightings last week, Rabbi Lubin was down with a cold over the weekend. He confirmed he got the call about the vandalism around 10 a.m. last Friday.
"It's definitely a hate crime to destroy a Jewish symbol and not any other religious items in the same area," he said, noting that a short distance to the west of the menorah, on the same plot of land owned by New Jersey Transit, are a secular Victorian home display and other Christmas displays, including a crèche, all undisturbed.
"This was no doubt intentional and a poor choice of judgment by an individual," said Lubin, whose Chabad Center leads Old Testament readings for senior citizens at the Madison Public Library, and delivers meals to shut-ins on holidays.
While characterizing the incident as one that was "relatively minor by amateurs, and could have been worse," the rabbi conceded that knowledge didn't make the incident any easier to accept.
Lubin had high praise, though, for the swift action of the Madison police, who had taken some of the broken pieces of the menorah to test for fingerprints.
"Everbody in town has been wonderful, and the police have gone out of their way to get to the bottom of this," Lubin said.
"It affects everyone, not just me," he added. "In a world where we've seen how much difference an individual can make, this is an example of the negative effect."
Police Chief Chirico also was ill Tuesday and unavailable for comment for this article.
Along the grassy sward in front of the train station she came to the spot where a menorah had been lit in Hanukkah ceremonies five days earlier, and stopped.
"That looks like it's been vandalized," the woman said.
The lower left branch of the metal menorah had been broken off and was nowhere in sight. Eight of the menorah's nine electric candles had been ripped loose, six of them dangling by wires, the other two gone. Only the "shamash" or center "leader candle" remained in place, but at a lopsided angle. On the ground, a small floodlight that had been placed to illuminate the menorah at night had been pulled out of the soil and tossed aside.
The woman took in the damage, then shook her head. "That's terrible," she said finally before resuming her eastward walk. "What could someone hope to gain by that?"
That was a question on the minds of Madison officials, too, after they learned last Friday the menorah had been vandalized by person or persons unknown.
Days After Festivities
Mayor Ellwood Kerkeslager was in Atlanta, Ga., on a holiday trip when he got the phone call from Police Chief Vincent Chirico.
Kerkeslager had been on hand the previous Monday evening, Dec. 18, for the ceremonies to light the menorah, joining Rabbi Shalom Lubin, director of the Chabad Center of Southeast Morris County, which has its offices on Park Avenue in Madison.
About 75 people had turned out for the menorah lighting on the fourth night of Hanukkah, the Jewish "festival of lights" that commemorates the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, and the miracle of the one day's supply of oil that kept the temple menorah burning eight days.
At the Madison festivities there were the traditional warm potato pancakes called "latkes" and the jelly doughnuts called "sufganiot," and Hanukkah play money for the children, and music. The evening was unseasonably warm. It was a good time, and Rabbi Lubin was looking forward to menorah lightings the next three nights in neighboring towns.
Now it was Friday and Mayor Kerkeslager was in Atlanta on his cell phone, getting the bad news from Chief Chirico.
The mayor immediately called Rabbi Lubin, couldn't reach him, and "left a message for him, apologizing," Kerkeslager related Saturday.
The mayor said he told the rabbi in his message: "This is unacceptable. This is not Madison."
Kerkeslager added Saturday, "We will not put up with this. I know the police are devoting all the resources to it they can."
The mayor noted the Dec. 18 ceremonies had marked the eighth year for the lighting of a menorah in Madison, in keeping with the traditional Christmas decorations along Kings Road near the train station. Kerkeslager has attended one of those lightings as a Borough Council member, and the past three as mayor.
He said of the vandalism, "It certainly doesn't represent the spirit and the attitude of Madison."
After four nights of outdoor Hanukkah lightings last week, Rabbi Lubin was down with a cold over the weekend. He confirmed he got the call about the vandalism around 10 a.m. last Friday.
"It's definitely a hate crime to destroy a Jewish symbol and not any other religious items in the same area," he said, noting that a short distance to the west of the menorah, on the same plot of land owned by New Jersey Transit, are a secular Victorian home display and other Christmas displays, including a crèche, all undisturbed.
"This was no doubt intentional and a poor choice of judgment by an individual," said Lubin, whose Chabad Center leads Old Testament readings for senior citizens at the Madison Public Library, and delivers meals to shut-ins on holidays.
While characterizing the incident as one that was "relatively minor by amateurs, and could have been worse," the rabbi conceded that knowledge didn't make the incident any easier to accept.
Lubin had high praise, though, for the swift action of the Madison police, who had taken some of the broken pieces of the menorah to test for fingerprints.
"Everbody in town has been wonderful, and the police have gone out of their way to get to the bottom of this," Lubin said.
"It affects everyone, not just me," he added. "In a world where we've seen how much difference an individual can make, this is an example of the negative effect."
Police Chief Chirico also was ill Tuesday and unavailable for comment for this article.
No comments:
Post a Comment