State College community celebrates Hanukkah with car menorah parade, drive-in lighting event

The State College community found a way to celebrate Hanukkah during the COVID-19 pandemic on Thursday evening — a car menorah parade and drive-in lighting event.

Chabad of Penn State, in conjunction with the Chabad Student Group at Penn State, organized the event. Typically, the Hanukkah menorah-lighting ceremony is held at the State College Municipal Building.

“The Car Menorah Parade is a perfect way for State College’s Jewish community to show our Jewish pride and celebrate Hanukkah during the pandemic,” Rabbi Nosson Meretsky, director of Chabad of Penn State, stated in a news release.

The parade featured cars with menorahs and “Happy Chanukah” (another spelling for the Jewish festival) signs strapped to their roofs. Escorted by an Alpha Fire Company truck, the cars drove through downtown State College before ending at the Allen Street parking lot across from the municipal building for the drive-in menorah lighting.

Other Chabad-organized menorah parades were held across the country, with Chabad distributing 32 million Hanukkah candles, more than 700,000 menorah kits and 350,000 family at-home Hanukkah kits, according to a news release.