December 6th, 2002
BY BOB SEIDENBERG
Evanston Review
The 10-foot-tall menorah seemed particularly appropriate as Evanston’s
Jewish community gathered in Fountain Square Plaza Tuesday to celebrate
the 10th annual public celebration of Hanukkah.
Rabbi Dov Hillel Klein of the Tannenbaum Chabad House-Northwestern
Jewish Center, which has sponsored the celebration since its beginning,
said that while people are living in troubling times, Hanukkah represents
“hope, a better tomorrow.”
He said the lighting of the menorah candles - a new one is lit each
day of the eight-day celebration - symbolizes the need to increase the
light, through acts of goodness and kindness, until peace is spread throughout
the world.
Other speakers also sounded a message of hope.
“Too many people say, ‘Let’s have peace,’ but make little effort to
make peace,” said Mayor Lorraine H. Morton.
She said people can put such words into action by giving more and showing
more compassion toward others.
Hanukkah marks the victory of the Jewish Maccabees over their oppressors,
in a quest for religious freedom. It saved the Jewish community at the
time from total annihilation.
U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-9th, of Evanston said the story of Hanukkah
is still being played out today in other Jewish communities, such as in
Cuba, where people strive to maintain their heritage.
She spoke about a conversation with a woman, an activist there, who
was responsible for getting President Fidel Castro to pay a visit to the
Jewish congregration there.
“Even in places where we think Hanukkah cannot survive and cannot flourish,
there is a light that is burning brightly,” she said.
Schakowsky joined Klein, the mayor and Aldermen Steven J. Bernstein,
4th Ward, and Arthur B. Newman, 8th Ward, in flicking on the menorah lights,
capping the celebration.
Lisa Allen and her husband, Joshua, watched the celebration with their
son, Eli, 4.
Hanukkah means “dedication,” Joshua Allen said, “and each year we rededicate
ourselves to be thankful and joyous.”
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