The Chabad of the Shore lit an 18-foot-high menora on Dec. 9 at Pier Village in Long Branch. Taking part in the ceremony are Long Branch Mayor Adam Schneider; Harvey Katz, a member of the Chabad’s board of directors; and Rabbi Laibel Schapiro, Chabad religious leader. Photo courtesy Chabad of the Shore
January 8, 2008
Members of the Chabad of the Shore in Long Branch lit an 18-foot-high menora at Pier Village on the Long Branch coast, in celebration of Hanukka.
Organizers called it one of the largest hanukkiot in New Jersey and said it symbolized Chabad’s ongoing effort to reach out to the Jewish and general communities in Monmouth County.
More than 150 community members attended the Dec. 9 ceremony.
Chabad also lit menoras at the Fort Monmouth Chapel on Dec. 5, Monmouth Mall in Eatontown on Dec. 6, and Monmouth University in West Long Branch on Dec. 11.
Each event draw a large number of attendees from the Jewish community and community-at- large, according to Rabbi Laibel Schapiro, religious leader of the Chabad. The lighting at Monmouth Mall drew a crowd of more than 500, and the ceremony at Fort Monmouth attracted more than 100 attendees. Thirty students attended the menora lighting at Monmouth University, where they received Hanukka gelt from university president Paul Gaffney, Schapiro said.
And community involvement is what it’s all about, he added.
“We’re here to share and celebrate Jewish culture, heritage, and pride with everyone in the Monmouth County community,” Schapiro said. “The joyous occasion of Hanukka also offers us the opportunity to make connections with, and build bridges to, the non-Jewish community in the county.”
A public celebration of Hanukka also carries the universal messages of religious freedom and the right to participate in those freedoms, Schapiro said.
“Lighting the menora was and still is a way to celebrate our religion proudly, openly, and in an authentic way,” said Schapiro. “Every night that a candle is added to the Hanukka menora, it symbolizes that what was good for yesterday may not be good for tomorrow. And when all the candles are blazing, a lot of positive energy emerges. That sense of energy ensures that Jewish spiritual and religious growth will continue well beyond the eight nights of the holiday.”
Information about upcoming events at the Chabad of the Shore is available via email.