Politics & Government
Menorah Lighting on the Green
The Board of Selectmen approve placing a menorah on the green, continuing a Branford tradition that has now lasted for roughly 10 years.
The nine-branched candelabrum or menorah will once again take its place on the Branford green, following approval last week by the Board of Selectmen of a request from the Chabad Lubavitch Of the Shoreline to place the menorah there.
This year, Hanukkah, which is also known as the Festival of Lights, will take place for eight days and eight nights from Dec. 20 through Dec. 27.
According to Rabbi Yossi Yaffe of the Chabad, which was based in Branford before moving to Guilford, the tradition of a is now roughly 10 years old.
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“All Jews light the menorah in the home,” the rabbi said. He said that the menorah was originally lit at the doors of people’s houses so that passers-bycould see it—a tradition, he said, that persists in Israel—but that, elsewhere, the symbol has moved indoors. It took its place in windows, the rabbi said, after the Jews had sustained years of religious persecution.
The rabbi said the public display of the menorah had become a custom of the Chabad, so that the holiday celebration would become available for all to see.
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Eight branches of the menorah hold the candles that each represent one day of the celebration while the ninth or raised branch of the menorah holds the shamash, which is the candle reserved to light the others.
Following a Jewish revolt in 165 B.C. in which the Jews regained control of the Temple of Jerusalem, the Jews could locate only enough olive oil to light the temple’s candelabra for one day, according to the Talmud and the book of Maccabees., the rabbi said. The oil lasted eight days, and the menorah now celebrates that miracle.
Although an established practice today, the public display of such seasonal symbols as the menorah, the Christmas tree and the nativity scene was once hotly debated. In 1989, however, the U.S. Supreme Court found that the menorah and the Christmas tree had gained secular status in the United States during the winter holiday season and, so, did not serve as endorsements of religion.
Yoffe said that roughly 50 people attended the lighting of the menorah at the Branford green last year.
If you go...
Tuesday, Dec. 20, 5:30 p.m.
