First public Menorah Lighting celebration held at ferry terminal
Chabad of Southern Delaware lit a nine-foot-tall public Chanukah menorah near the Cape-May Lewes Ferry Nov. 28, the first night of the eight-day Festival of Lights. The event attracted about a hundred participants and featured a public lighting, holiday songs, traditional hot latkes, fresh donuts and a children's entertainer. Complimentary Chanukah menorahs and candles were distributed for participants to light at home. The public Chanukah celebration was the first of its kind in Southern Delaware.
“Everyone was really excited about the event,” said Rabbi Sholom Vogel, director of Chabad of Southern Delaware. “ The holiday is so meaningful and joyous, and celebrating it in a public way makes it all the more special. We are so fortunate to live in a time and country that values and protects religious freedoms. We celebrated our history by creating history in Lewes with this first public menorah lighting."
"The public menorah lighting was the most beautiful Chanukah gift for my family and Jewish residents here in Lewes," said Morin Stegall.
Chanukah, the Festival of Lights, began this year on the evening of Sunday, Nov. 28 and concludes the evening of Monday, Dec. 6. It recalls the victory some 2200 years ago of a militarily weak Jewish people who defeated the Syrian-Greeks who had overrun ancient Israel and sought to impose restrictions on the Jewish way of life and prohibit religious freedom. They desecrated and defiled the Holy Temple in Jerusalem and sought to prevent the lighting of the menorah, which was part of the daily service. Upon recapturing the Temple, the Jewish people found only one jar of undefiled oil, enough to burn only one day, but it lasted miraculously for eight. In commemoration, Jews celebrate Chanukah for eight days by lighting an eight-branched candelabrum known as a menorah. Today, people of all faiths consider the holiday a symbol and message of the triumph of freedom over oppression, spirit over matter, light over darkness. More information about the holiday is available at ChabadDE.com/Chanukah.
Chabad of Delaware has been serving the state since 1987 offering Jewish education, outreach and social service programming for families and individuals of all ages, backgrounds and affiliations. The main Chabad Center is in Wilmington and a Chabad Student center is located on the UD campus in Newark. In response to numerous requests from residents in Southern Delaware, Rabbi Sholom and Chanale Vogel have been offering regular weekly classes, seminars, holiday observances and celebrations. Anyone who needs a menorah and candles or would like to know more about Chabad in Southern Delaware may contact Rabbi Sholom and Chanale Vogel at 302-377-1162 or RabbiSholom@ChabadDE.com.
