On a night so cold you almost could skate on your hot chocolate, Greater Morristown celebrated Chanukah with music, jugglers, doughnuts and a giant menorah that glows in the dark.
“Now it’s visible far and wide in Morristown,” Rabbi Moishe Gurevitz said on Wednesday, after dozens had gathered beneath the blue-and-green structure for the lighting of the first two lamps of the eight-night holiday.
The Jewish faith holds that one jar of oil miraculously burned for eight days when the Temple in Jerusalem was recaptured from the Syrian Greeks more than 2,100 years ago.
Today, the menorah symbolizes how people of goodwill can vanquish darkness, said Gurevitz, director of the Morristown chapter of Chabad Young Professionals.
“All of us can do another good deed. Because all the little lights together make a bright light, and make the world a better place,” the rabbi said.
Slideshow photos by Kevin Coughlin
Mayor Tim Dougherty echoed that theme in one of the most succinct speeches of his career.
“In this day and time, in the world we live in today, we must all stick together and support each other and honor each other,” Dougherty said, as the wind made the historic Green feel much frostier than the thermometer reading, which dipped into the low 20s.
Norman Feinstein, a trustee of the Rabbinical College of America and vice chairman at the Hampshire Real Estate Companies, lit the Menorah from the basket of a cherry-picker. The neon colors are new this year.
The Rabbinical College of America student band and the Budapest Jugglers braved the biting cold to entertain several dozen onlookers, including Morristown First Lady Mary Dougherty and Morris Township Committeeman Peter Mancuso.
Jelly doughnuts, a traditional Chanukah treat, and hot chocolate were served.
