WJHS Choir To Headline Village Menorah Lighting

Chabad of Wilmette will light a 9-foot public Hanukkah menorah at Village Hall, on Sunday, Dec 18, the first night of the eight-day Festival of Lights, at 4:30 pm. The community will be joined by [Dignitaries' names and titles] who will be attending, and the event will feature for juggling dancers and fresh jelly donuts. Complimentary Hanukkah menorahs and candles will be distributed as well for participants to light at home.

The public Hanukkah celebration is being heralded as a response to the worrisome rise in antisemitic rhetoric online and elsewhere.
“Our response to hatred of any kind must never be to cower or hide our faith,” said Esther L. Teldon who directs Wilmette Community Hebrew School with her husband Moshe. “The story of Hanukkah is the tremendous power of light to overcome darkness. We can have no better response to negativity we encounter than to gather together in even greater numbers and celebrate the light of the menorah in public.”

This year’s public menorah lighting carries added significance as Jewish communities worldwide celebrate the Year of Hakhel or “Gathering,” a once-in-seven-years Jewish tradition. The marking of this special occasion is part of the reason Chabad is expecting record crowds at the menorah-lighting this year.
“Unity is what makes a strong community, ” said Teldon. “Hakhel is a time for us to tune in to this, because together we can accomplish great things. There is no greater display of the literal light it is in our power to bring into the world than to gather together and light the menorah. This is what the world needs.”