CEDAR RAPIDS -- A 50-year American tradition of public menorahs will continue locally with Chabad N.E. Iowa's annual lighting of a menorah on the sixth night of Hanukkah in Cedar Rapids next week.
It was a cold Saturday night in Philadelphia when Rabbi Abraham Shemtov lit a menorah in front of Independence Hall in 1974. The four-foot wood menorah is recognized as the first recorded public menorah lighting in the United States.
Today, public menorah lighting ceremonies are a mainstay in many U.S. cities. Cedar Rapids' public menorah -- in front of Siegel's Jewelry at 3525 First Ave. SE -- will be one of more than 15,000 public menorahs throughout the world.
Rabbi Aron Schimmel of Chabad N.E. Iowa said this year is a particularly important time to gather for a menorah lighting ceremony.
"At this fraught time for the Jewish community, with war in Israel and American Jews facing a major rise in antisemitism, this year we are doing more to celebrate Hanukkah with joy and Jewish pride," Schimmel said. "The Menorah and Hanukkah represent freedom of the human spirit, freedom from tyranny and oppression, and of the victory of good over evil."
The Cedar Rapids menorah lighting is planned to begin at 6 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 30 -- the sixth day of Hanukkah. As in past years, it will include a lighting, as well as entertainment for all ages: music, dancing rabbis, and -- new this year -- guests will have a chance to dance with a five-foot-tall, four-foot-wide inflatable dreidel. The event also will serve traditional Hanukkah foods like latkes and dounats.
Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights, began this year on the evening of Dec. 25 and concludes the evening of Jan. 02. It recalls the victory of a Jewish people who defeated the Syrian-Greeks who had overrun ancient Israel and sought to impose restrictions on the Jewish way of life and practice.
The Syrian-Greeks desecrated and defiled the Holy Temple and the oil prepared for the lighting of the menorah -- part of the daily service. Upon defeating their enemies and recapturing their Temple, only one jar of undefiled oil was found, enough to burn for one day, but it lasted for eight.
In commemoration, Jews celebrate Hanukkah for eight days by lighting an eight-branched candelabrum known as a menorah, adding another candle each night.
"Celebrating Hanukkah is a potent point of light, Jewish pride and confidence for American Jews in the fight against darkness and antisemitism," Schimmel said. "The celebration of Hanukkah underscores the G-d endowed liberty that is at the heart of what America represents."