Fairfield celebrates fourth night of Hanukkah

FAIRFIELD — The Jewish community of Fairfield celebrated the fourth night of Hanukkah Wednesday with a public menorah lighting, food, music and merriment.

Beth Shalom, Fairfield’s synagogue on South B Street, hosted just over 30 people for the ceremony and festivities that were originally planned for Fairfield’s Central Park, but were moved to the synagogue because of projected frigid temperatures.

The evening began with two local dignitaries, spiritual leader Alan Green and Fairfield Mayor Connie Boyer, lighting a 10-foot menorah outside the building that had been brought to Fairfield by members of Chabad Lubavitch of Northeast Iowa. Rabbi Aron Schimmel, director of the Chabad Jewish Center of Northeast Iowa in Postville, said Fairfield was the fourth of five towns that Chabad Lubavitch had visited for menorah lighting ceremonies during Hanukkah. The group has been visiting a different city each day since Sunday, starting with Cedar Falls, then La Crosse, Wisconsin, then Cedar Rapids, Fairfield, and finally finishing their travels with a ceremony in their hometown of Postville Thursday.

“In every place, we had the mayor and community leaders come, both Jews and Gentiles alike,” Schimmel said.

Green and Boyer lighted a center candle and four additional candles on the menorah to signify the fourth night of Hanukkah, which lasts eight nights. After the lighting ceremony, the crowd moved inside to enjoy traditional Hanukkah foods such as latkes (potato pancakes) and sufganiyot (jelly-filled doughnuts), among other things. Doug Daller provided the live entertainment by performing on piano.

Marc Berkowitz, President of Beth Shalom, said he was pleased with the turnout, and appreciative of Rabbi Schimmel coming from so far away to join the celebration.

“He adds a whole other level of livelihood to our services,” Berkowitz said. “It’s always nice to get together to celebrate. The food was great, and it was a nice way to warm up on a cold winter night.”

Though the event was moved inside because of the weather forecast, Berkowitz said it wasn’t as bad as they feared. However, by the time Schimmel and his group left town to travel back to Postville, travel had become difficult.

“A drive that normally takes three hours took me five and a half hours,” Schimmel said.

Berkowitz said that Judaism is very much a home-based religion, but the festival of Hanukkah is intended to be a public celebration.

“The message of Hanukkah is the victory of light over darkness,” he said. “It’s a universal theme. In most communities, people will put the menorah in their window so it can be seen from the street, as an inspiration to others.”

Berkowitz said that Fairfield has a strong Jewish population, especially compared to cities in Iowa of comparable size. He said that just under 100 people are affiliated with Fairfield’s synagogue, and estimated the town could have two or three hundred Jews in all.

“For a small town in Iowa, we have a large Jewish population,” he said. “Four or five other cities have a sizable population, such as Cedar Rapids, Iowa City, Des Moines and Sioux City. But Fairfield punches way above its weight.”

Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com