Praise for Jefferson officials as town celebrates Hanukka

by Ron Kaplan
NJJN Staff Writer
12.22.05

A small but enthusiastic crowd gathered at the Jefferson Township municipal building on Dec. 16 for a display of civic cooperation that stood in sharp contrast to a nationally publicized string of real or imagined “holiday wars.”

The hardy celebrants lit all eight electric candles of the large menora outside the municipal building and repaired inside for latkes and other refreshments, games of dreidel, and songs.

The annual event was inspired four years ago by Deborah Pine, a resident of Oak Ridge, who was set on establishing a Hanukka presence in answer to the town’s Christmas display. (A nativity scene, smaller than the menora, is adjacent to it; nearby are four to six large trees decorated with Christmas lights.)

Pine compiled a list of the area’s “50-60 Jewish and interfaith families” and started dialing, building support for her dream of having the municipality produce the celebration.

The township agreed, and — until last week’s harsh weather kept the crowd to about 20 revelers — the Hanukka gathering has grown in size and scope. In addition to the menora lighting, last year’s program included a DJ, singing, stories, and latkes.

According to Pine, the town has “gotten with the program. They [did] a great job in promoting it,” she said.

In towns across the country, publicly funded holiday displays and celebrations have periodically become occasions for court battles. In general the courts have upheld displays that are considered “seasonal” so long as they are as inclusive as possible.

“We’ve been very careful about what we do,” said Pine, who runs a financial services business with her husband, Michael.

There were a few complaints over the first program in 2001; some residents objected to a small star of David on the menora. Pine suggested the critics were motivated not by concerns over church and state issues, but by anti-Semitism.

Overall, however, “everybody is thrilled, thrilled, thrilled that there’s a place to go to do something Jewish that’s not through a temple. They love the sense of community.”

Pine and her family — which includes daughter Alyssa, 15, and son Tyler, seven — belong to the Jewish Congregation of Kinnelon. But, she noted, some families of interfaith marriages don’t have temple memberships and appreciate the town’s celebration. “And kids coming home from college also enjoy it.”

Despite this year’s low turnout, Pine said she considers the program a success. “As always, the event was also enjoyed by some non-Jews who like to partake in another cultural tradition,” she told NJ Jewish News in an e-mail. “Next year we are hoping to add a storyteller to tell the story of Hanukka and also a local children’s choir to sing some Hanukka songs.

“Although the turnout was… not what we had hoped, it lent an intimacy that was different than prior years.”

Pine praised the township’s recreation department, which pays for the Hanukka celebration, noting that the menora cost about $1,300. “Anything I’ve asked for, they’ve given me,” she said. “They’ve never said ‘no.’ They believe very strongly in equal time. They think it’s wonderful.”