Jeanette Friedman

chabad.org: Lighting Up in Public

Dec 06

Jeanette Friedmanholidays, interfaith relations, life cycle events and celebrations, liturgy, local stories/community, social action No Comments

It’s become almost commonplace for hundreds of thousands of people to attend grand public Chanukah menorah lightings in metropolises and in front of statehouses dotting the American landscape. But the first such ceremony, in Philadelphia’s Old City in 1974, included less than a handful of Jews; they watched as a Soviet émigré stood in front of the Liberty Bell and lit a small menorah.

As he stood there celebrating religious freedom and the Chanukah message of light’s victory over darkness, Chabad-Lubavitch Rabbi Avraham Shemtov prayed from the depths of his soul that his small public act would fuel a groundswell of religious pride. Three years later, President Jimmy Carter would welcome the first National Menorah on the Ellipse in front of the White House; seven years later, President Ronald Reagan would endorse Shemtov’s hope in the form of a letter after the first presidential Chanukah party.

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