Shunning the darkness for light: 12th annual Menorah Lighting
Menucha Lerman, 11, was helping set up the tables at the 12th annual Hanukkah celebration in front of Police Department headquarters in the Center on Sunday, December 14. In the 28-degree weather, someone said that the sufganiyah — the jelly doughnuts served in Jewish households around the world during Hanukkah — were frozen.
“Well, aren’t we freezing too?” Menucha deadpanned. The daughter of Rabbi Berel Lerman, who was presiding, was pleased to see several faces lighting up around her.
The bitter cold didn’t bother those assembled to celebrate the lighting of the Menorah. But there was sadness mixed with happiness, and at least one expression of anger this year on the first night of Hanukkah, one of the most joyful events on the Jewish calendar. Everyone was aware of the news of the antisemitic, terrorist attack in Australia, where 15 people were murdered and 40 injured.
“I’m enraged,” said the 93-year-old playwright and artist Leah Friedman. “I feel like I want to scream.”
An Islander for many years, she grew up in the Bronx, the daughter of a woman who left Poland when she was 16; the family she left behind was murdered by Nazis. Even through Ms. Friedman’s anger, being at the lighting of the Menorah in the Center gave her hope, she said. She spoke of her happiness, seeing Jews and Christians together.
Susan Schrott, Ms. Friedman’s daughter, who is also an artist, said the killings in Australia meant it was important to remember, “We have to be all about the light. We all must call for love, peace, harmony and compassion.”
Rabbi Lerman, of the Center For Jewish Life–Chabad in Sag Harbor, was ably assisted by Menucha and her siblings Moshe and Miriam in setting up the sound system and laying out food, hot chocolate and flyers. Father Peter DeSanctis was in attendance, as he has been for the past 12 years, and Police Chief Jim Read, Highway Superintendent Ken Lewis Jr, and Shelter Island Justice Stanley Birnbaum were in the crowd.
Judge Birnbaum, asked if he had hope for peace after the news of the attack in Australia, had a simple answer, “Have to.”
Rabbi Lerman told the gathering that if you turn on a light in a dark room, “You see that light is inevitably stronger than the darkness. It will conquer it every time.” He referenced the events in Australia, speaking about the “evil displayed against the Jewish community. But we must fight darkness with more light,” which is one of the lessons of the Menorah.
The rabbi noted the origin of the holiday celebrated in ceremonies held all over the world. The tradition dates to 160 B.C., when Judah the Maccabee led a small army of Jews and successfully defeated the Syrians, reclaiming the temple and relighting the golden Menorah. According to legend, the Jews had only enough oil for a single day, but the Menorah burned for eight days, and the eight candles on the Menorah are there to remember the power of faith.
“There is a light inside each and every one of us,” Rabbi Lerman said. “We have to see it in each other.” He asked the gathering “to pray for peace and harmony … We must learn that we all have the ability to shine … We are not fearful.” The rabbi urged people to “Be a Maccabbee.”
Mr. Lewis and Father DeSanctis helped to light the first candle on the Menorah. The gathering sang the lilting Hebrew song, “Maoz Tzur.” Soon, happy voices filled the air with “The Dreidel Song,” and “Oshe Shalom,” which in English means, “He Who Makes Peace.”
Bundled-up people gave each other hugs. They wished each other a Happy Hanukkah under the towering Christmas tree and Menorah next to it — both shining in the cold night air.
