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Fairfield to host Hanukkah ceremony Dec. 29
Southeast Iowa Union offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
This Hanukkah, Chabad N.E. Iowa will light a public 10-foot menorah erected at Fairfield’s Central Park at 6 p.m. on Sunday Dec. 29, the fifth night of Chanukah.
This event will feature an array of entertainment for all ages including: music, dancing Rabbis, New this Year! Dancing with the 5-foot tall and 4-foot wide inflatable Dreidel! As well as a selection of traditional Hanukkah foods such as “Latkes” and Donuts.
"At this fraught time for the Jewish community, with war in Israel and American Jews facing a major rise in antisemitism, this year we are doing more to celebrate Hanukkah with joy and Jewish pride,” said Rabbi Aron Schimmel. “The Menorah and Hanukkah represent freedom of the human spirit, freedom from tyranny and oppression, and of the victory of good over evil.”
This year’s celebrations carry added significance as they mark 50 years since the first public menorah which was lit at the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia in 1974. The public menorah was lit after the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of blessed memory, launched the worldwide Hanukkah campaign in 1973 to build awareness and promote observance of Hanukkah. Today, public menorahs and Hanukkah displays have become a staple of Jewish cultural and American public life, forever altering the American practice and perception of the festival.
This year’s Hanukkah campaign will be one of unprecedented light and joy, seeing Chabad reach more than 8 million Jews in more than 100 countries. Fairfield's menorah is one of over 15,000 large public menorahs throughout the world, including notable menorahs in front of the White House, the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the St. Louis Arch, the Great Wall of China, and Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate.
“Celebrating Hanukkah is a potent point of light, Jewish pride and confidence for American Jews in the fight against darkness and antisemitism,” added Rabbi Schimmel. "The celebration of Hanukkah underscores the G-d endowed liberty that is at the heart of what America represents.”
