North County Jewish community to host menorah lighting ceremony
Ceremony to take place Sunday, Dec. 10 in downtown Paso Robles
– Chabad of Paso Robles is organizing a public Hanukkah menorah lighting event with a massive nine-foot menorah at Downtown City Park in Paso Robles on Sunday, Dec. 10, at 4:30 p.m.
The event will feature an array of entertainment for all ages, including a fire show, grand raffle, live music, gelt drop, children’s crafts & activities, hot soup, and traditional latkes. The event will be attended by the Mayor of Paso Robles, the Mayor of Atascadero, as well as other local officials.
Chabad of Paso Robles says it “expects a larger than usual crowd this year in a strong statement of Jewish pride and confidence.”
The Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory, launched the Hanukkah awareness campaign 50 years ago, in 1973–in the aftermath of the Yom Kippur War in Israel, and in the half-century since, the “Festival of Lights” has revitalized widespread observance of Hanukkah and brought it to the mainstream, according to Chabad. “The Menorah, and indeed Hanukkah–with its universal message of freedom of the human spirit, freedom from tyranny and oppression, and of the ultimate victory of good over evil–has as a result become a part of American culture.”
“The Rebbe taught that not only is celebrating Hanukkah a vital part of Jewish life–where it has become a potent point of light and Jewish pride and confidence for American Jews in the fight against darkness and antisemitism–but also represents key American values, namely those of liberty and independence.” said Rabbi Meir Gordon. “The holiday of Hanukkah underscores the fact that American culture has been enriched by the thriving ethnic cultures which contributed very much, each in its own way, to communal life, both materially and spiritually.”
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