Dozens braved temperatures that flirted with and eventually dipped below freezing last Thursday to come together and witness menorah lightings on the first night of Hanukkah.
The Jewish holiday spans eight nights, beginning this year on Dec. 7, and commemorates the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem in the second century B.C.E. after a small group of Jewish fighters liberated it from occupying foreign forces.
The town’s first menorah lighting ceremony was held outside National Grand Bank, sponsored by the Marblehead Chamber of Commerce, National Grand Bank, Congregation Shirat Hayam, Temple Emanu-El, Temple Sinai, and the Jewish Community Center of the North Shore. The lighting drew both local and state elected officials, including members of the town’s Select Board and state Rep. Jenny Armini.
The event kicked off with lengthy remarks from Board member Moses Grader, who reflected on both the weight he carries as a result of his first name and the value of hosting a public celebration of a Jewish holiday amid rising antisemitism.
“It’s vital, as we’re doing now, that we lean into our faiths, that we recognize that we are bound together in this town and our country by the voluntary acceptance of all religious faiths that teach us to spread our light the best we can — symbolized here tonight with the lighting of the first candle of the menorah,” Grader said.
Grader also reflected on the connections between the town, the country, and the Jewish faith, imploring the crowd of dozens to celebrate the fight to defend religious diversity.
“So, like the miracle of the oil at the temple, we pray with you that God’s light will illuminate and fill our lives,” he said.
Attendees also heard from numerous Jewish faith leaders, including Rabbi Michael Schwartz of Temple Sinai, Interim Rabbi Darryl Crystal of Temple Emanu-El, and Epstein Hillel School Director of Jewish Life and Learning Rabbi Samantha Safran. Their remarks were interspersed with performances from the children’s and adult choirs of Shirat Hayam, which sang traditional Hanukkah songs and offered renditions of the prayers.
In his remarks, Schwartz reflected that Hanukkah — a festival of light — occurs during the darkest month of the Jewish calendar.
“We don’t need any reminder of how much dark, near darkness there is out there,” he said. “But perhaps the light is meant to remind us that first of all, we kindled the light, we can kindle light, (and) that light dispels darkness.”