‘Add light to the darkness:’ Chabad of Penn State expects record crowd at menorah lighting
Chabad of Penn State expects a record number of attendees at its annual public menorah lighting in State College on Sunday, following the recent deadly anti-Semitic Jersey City, New Jersey attack.
The Dec. 10 attack, which the FBI classified domestic terrorism, left two members of the Hasidic Jewish community, an employee of a kosher store and a police officer dead.
“Hanukkah is the celebration of light over darkness,” said Rabbi Nosson Meretsky, who directs Chabad of Penn State, in a press release. “The darkness that we, as a nation, have been experiencing must be fought with light and goodness, and we are putting together our biggest program ever to show that we will not be intimidated by those who wish to scare us.”
The eight-day Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights, begins on Sunday and ends the evening of Dec. 30. The lighting of the menorah event, which is free and open to the public, is in its 18th year, said Meretsky. A second, large menorah will be displayed at the Allen Street Gates for the duration of the holiday.
Meretsky said he would have expected a crowd of about 20-30 people this year due to the holiday falling after Penn State students leave for the semester, but judging from the community response to the event, he now expects over 100 to attend. In addition to people from State College, residents of Bellefonte, Philipsburg and places all around Centre County have shown interest in the event.
“A lot of people are looking for something this year to come out and celebrate Hanukkah,” he said.
Though hate crimes in the U.S. were down slightly last year, anti-Jewish hate crimes represented 57% of all religiously-biased hate crimes, according to 2018 FBI data.
In light of the Jersey City, Poway Synagogue in California and Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh attacks over the past year and a half, Meretsky said, people want to celebrate Hanukkah out in the open, to “add light to the darkness.”
“I think it really strikes a chord in people. When these things happen, it affects all of us around the country,” he said. “... There are things that are happening that are making the world, the country a darker place ... we can actually do something about it. We’re not running away.”
State College resident Wendy Share said this is the first year she plans to attend the public event, since previously she felt uncomfortable expressing her Jewish identity in public.
“They want us to be afraid — to fear proudly proclaiming our Jewish identity,” she said. “I usually just light the menorah at home, but with all the antisemitism we are witnessing around us, I’m also going to join the public menorah lighting because I think this is the most effective thing we can do to fight evil. We need to be taking it head on.”
A performance from award-winning baton twirling M Twirling Team will kick off the event at 5 p.m. Sunday at the State College Municipal Building, 243 S. Allen St., followed by activities for children that include doughnut decorating and arts and crafts. Then, the nine-foot menorah will be lit with help from newly-appointed interim Mayor Ronald Filippelli.
Meretsky encouraged all people, whether Jewish or non-Jewish, to come out to the celebration. He said that while Hanukkah is a celebration of the Jewish people’s victory over the Syrian Greeks, who sought to restrict the Jewish way of life and religious freedom in ancient Israel, it represents more than that.
“The victory of Hanukkah is essentially a victory for all people, that each of us has our own unique culture and traditions that we hold onto, and it’s a time for all of us to really embrace and celebrate the traditions and culture that we have,” he said.
This story was originally published December 18, 2019 at 9:05 AM.
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