NJ Chabad Can Display Menorah In Park; Other Rabbis Disagree

In West Windsor, New Jersey, a Chabad group has won the right to put up a 9-foot tall Menorah with electric lights in a public park for Hanukkah this year. Yesterday's Princeton Packet reports that after first turning down the request, now township attorney Michael Herbert has issued a memorandum saying, "The Ron Rogers Arboretum, a public park, is a traditional public forum, open to all on equal terms." However, other rabbis in the area disagree with the decision. Four other Mercer County rabbis sent a letter to the township saying, "As religious leaders, we have never asked for a Hanukkah Menorah to be placed on public property, because we believe that the Menorah is a deeply religious symbol, belonging in synagogues, Jewish homes and Jewish communal institutions. The Menorah is not the equivalent of a Christmas tree; Hanukkah is not the Jewish Christmas."