Re-Lighting Ceremony Held for Vandalized New York Menorah
The vandalized menorah near Gracie Mansion. Image by Chabad.org
A re-lighting ceremony for a menorah that had been vandalized two nights in a row was held Monday night at Carl Schurz park on New York’s Upper East Side.
“It was a time to call the community back to add some light to darkness,” Rabbi Elie Weinstock of the Congretation Kehilath Jeshurun said to the gatherered crowd, which included Mayor Bill de Blasio.
The toppled 100-pound menorah was just blocks from Gracie Mansion, the mayor’s official residence.
“This is the epitome of who we are because even when confronted by hatred, by division, we stand up, we show our strength, we show our resilience,” de Blasio said.
“When we see an act of prejudice, when we see an act of hate, we must respond to it.”
NYPD hate crime detectives are investigating.
Elsewhere, a menorah was stolen from a Chabad-Lubavitch synagogue in Salt Lake City, Utah, over the weekend. It was found outside an alumni house at a nearby college.
The theft was not being investigated as a hate crime.
Rabbi Benny Zippel told The Associated Press that the perpetrators were likely just “bored souls” who did not mean to be anti-Semitic.
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