Longtime Resident Creates Edina Hanukkah Display

Red and green—not blue and white—drove longtime Edina resident Idelle Sue Longman to erect one of the city's first Hanukkah displays.

Longman was paging through the newsletter when she noticed the words "Happy Hanukkah" printed in red and green lettering. After traveling to the center to inform Director Sue Weigle the colors of the holiday, along with that of Israel's flag, were actually blue and white, the two started to talk about the traditions surrounding Hanukkah.

"It just took off from there," Longman said.

With the help of friends, Longman gathered enough menorahs, dreidels and Hanukkah-related trinkets to fill one of the Senior Center's display cases, and then some.

"I think I already have enough for next year," Longman said.

The Jewish holiday doesn't start until sundown on Dec. 20, but the display is already open for public consumption during the Senior Center's regular hours—8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Mondays through Fridays. More than simply inform people about the Jewish holiday, Longman hopes the display inspires dialogue that leads to "genuine embrace of our similarities and differences."

"Words sometimes get lost on people, but a picture is worth 1,000 words," Longman said. "I thought the display would be worth volumes and reams for teaching."

Accomplished children's author and Edina resident Joni Sussman, who has recently published a few Hanukkah children's books, said working with Longman was natural.

"It was doubly important to me that I was able to do this in my own community," Sussman said. "I think (Edina) is more and more diverse, and it's nice the community is becoming ever more inclusive."

Longman said she received an email from a man who had seen the display and wrote "you are lighting another candle against the darkness."

"Those words were the driving force behind my inspiration to do this," she said. "If nothing else, I hope people will look at the display and say, 'That's interesting, I could learn something from this.'"