Tonight begins the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. Papers around the nation report on the campaign by the Chabad movement to have Hanukkah Menorahs displayed in public places, and the ambivalence of other portions of the Jewish community about this push. The Berkshire Eagle reports on Sunday's planned Menorah lighting at the Berkshire Mall. Rabbi Leo Volovik, director of Chabad of the Berkshires says: "We assemble in the Berkshire Mall to light a public menorah to tell people that the lesson of Hanukkah is universal." But Rabbi Deborah Zecher of the Hevreh of Southern Berkshire synagogue says: "I disagree. Religious symbols belong in religious places."
A similar debate is taking place in Nashville where, according to The Tennessean, this year for the first time there will be a Menorah in Nashville's Riverfront Park. It will be lit by Nashville Mayor Bill Purcell. Chabad Rabbi Yitzchok Tiechtel has led an effort for several years to get Menorahs in public places. For the past four years, one is placed on the state capitol grounds. Tiechtel has gotten Menorahs into malls and grocery stores. Next Thursday, shoppers at the Mall of Green Hills will construct a 10-foot-tall menorah made out of of Legos. Tiechtel justifies all of this by saying: "It's a holiday of religious freedom. And I personally feel that a lot of Jewish people feel like they would like to have a display of something of their own on the holiday, that their holiday gets lost." However, again, others in the Jewish community do not all agree. Rabbi Laurie Rice says: "On the one hand, Jews in general feel good when they see menorahs displayed publicly because they feel like there's some equity, even though we live in a such a Christian culture. On the other hand, Hanukkah is not a major holiday in Judaism, and are we inflating it only because of competition with Christmas?" Rice said she personally believes "we're just commercializing Judaism and, in the same way that Christians take the season to heart, it's probably equally as frustrating."
An interesting article run last year by The Forward suggests that Christian activists have used Chabad's campaign for Menorahs in public places as leverage to demand nativity displays on public property. [Thanks to Joe Knippenberg for the lead to this article.]
