Jersey City Menorah Lighting Honors Kosher Deli Shooting Victims

JERSEY CITY, NJ — New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and the Jersey City community took part in a special menorah lighting Thursday night during the fifth day of the Jewish holiday, Hanukkah.

Sponsored by the Anti-Defamation League, the “Shine A Light on Antisemitism" event commemorated the second anniversary of the fatal 2019 kosher deli shootout.

"As we lit the menorah in Jersey City, we honored the lives lost two years ago in an act of antisemitism and hate," Murphy tweeted. "Moshe Deutsch, Mindy Ferencz, Douglas Miguel Rodriguez, Detective Joseph Seals. May the light of the menorah always defy the darkness of hate."

On Dec. 10, 2019, two armed gunman entered the JC Kosher Supermarket in the Greenville section of Jersey City. Five people were killed at the store, including the two assailants.

Seals, 39, a married father of five, was killed by the suspects in Bayview Cemetery on Garfield Avenue prior to the shootings at the bodega.

Shortly after the fatal shooting, Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop, who attended Thursday night's event, was quick to call it a hate crime, saying any description short of that was "disservice to Judaism."

Acting Attorney General Andrew Bruck was one of several speakers to take part in Thursday night's menorah lighting.

“We will not be taken down by those who look to divide us. There is no place for hate in this state," he said.

The event is part of a national campaign to raise awareness about antisemitism.

According to The Jerusalem Post, Jews in the United States are the target of 58 percent of all religiously motivated hate crimes in the US despite constituting a mere two percent of the population, newly released FBI statistics for 2020 have shown.

SEE ALSO:

• No Charges Against Officers In Fatal 2019 Kosher Deli Shootout
• Suspects, Victims ID'd After 6 Killed In Jersey City Shooting