Hanukkah celebration to light up Bradley Park
By Michele Dargan
Palm Beach Daily News
Tuesday, December 16, 2014
Bradley Park will be transformed into a winter wonderland on Dec. 22 for the 17th annual community Hanukkah celebration and menorah lighting.
The event begins at 5:30 p.m. and features an ice menorah, a snow mountain, carnival rides for children, a robo-light interactive show and traditional Hanukkah food.
The eight-day festival of Hanukkah begins at sundown Tuesday and ends at sundown Dec. 24.
Rabbi Moshe Scheiner of the Palm Beach Synagogue began the tradition in 1998 with Rabbi Leonid Feldman, who was then spiritual leader of Temple Emanu-El and now is at Temple Beth El. The event has grown over the years from two participating synagogues to seven and has attracted nearly 500 people.
Scheiner said he expects a big turnout this year because children will be out of school and there will be more people in town on vacation. The event is free.
Representatives from Magen David Adom, Israel’s emergency ambulance service, will be honored during the event.
“They save lives on a daily basis and we want to thank them and pay tribute to them and to Israel and to pray for peace in Israel and around the world,” Scheiner said. “There’s been so much violence and terrorism in Israel and with the recent attacks in the synagogue and heightened violence in Jerusalem, these paramedics have been on the frontlines, saving lives of Jews and non-Jews alike. Symbolically, with lighting the menorah, we want to send the light of peace and goodness that will ultimately prevail and banish the evil and darkness from the world.”
“Hanukkah is known as the festival of lights, and I love the idea that the holiday reminds us to take the light inside of us and share it,” said Rabbi Michael Resnick of Temple Emanu-El. “It reminds us to live generously, to give to other people, to care for other people and to bring hope to other people. Just as we light another candle each night of Hanukkah and the light increases, that’s the way we should live our lives. You bring light to the world a little bit more each day.”
This year marks 40 years since Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson encouraged the lighting of public menorahs, said Rabbi Zalman Levitin of Chabad of Northern Palm Beach Island.
“The miracle of the menorah — where the oil lasted for eight days — occurred inside the temple, where only a few people were able to witness it,” Levitin said. “For this reason, we celebrate the miracle of Hanukkah outdoors and display menorahs in public so that the miracle will be publicized to the world.”