This Hanukkah, Nanaimo is seeing a surge in public displays of the holiday and Jewish identity with families and individuals lighting their menorahs in their doors or windows.
Hanukkah, the Jewish festival of lights, started this year with the lighting of a large nine-candle menorah set up by Chabad of Nanaimo at Maffeo Sutton Park on Thursday, Dec. 7.
According to a Chabad of Nanaimo and Central Vancouver Island press release, it’s a fraught time for the Jewish people, with war in Israel and with Canadian Jews facing a rise in antisemitism. The release added that rather than hide their religion, Jews are choosing to celebrate their identity this Hanukkah with more confidence and resolve.
Thursday’s menorah lighting event featured entertainment, hot drinks and traditional Hanukkah foods. Mayor Leonard Krog helped with the lighting and he and Nanaimo MLA Sheila Malcolmson made speeches at the event, as well.
“The Rebbe taught that not only is celebrating Hanukkah a vital part of Jewish life where it has become a potent point of light and Jewish pride and confidence for Canadian Jews in the fight against darkness and antisemitism, but also represents key Canadian values, namely those of liberty and independence,” said Rabbi Bentzi Shemtov, of Chabad of Nanaimo, in the release. “The holiday of Hanukkah underscores the fact that Canadian culture has been enriched by the thriving ethnic cultures which contributed very much, each in its own way, to communal life, both materially and spiritually.”
Hanukkah ends Friday, Dec. 15.
For more information about Chabad of Nanaimo and Central Vancouver Island, visit http://jewishnanaimo.com.
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