Menorah Lit at Brookhaven Town Hall

This is the time of the year where special lighting brightens up the winter nights.  The parking lots at malls are illuminated so brightly they can be seen from miles away.  Homes are lighting up their lawns with holiday displays and some of them are quite dazzling. 

However, there are special lights burning in the homes of Jewish families and will continue to do so until Dec. 8.  It is the celebration of Chanukah, which many people refer to as the "festival of lights," and it was kicked off in the Town of Brookhaven Wednesday evening at Town Hall. 

In a celebration held in the lobby of Town Hall in Farmingville, Supervisor Mark Lesko and Deputy Supervisor Kathy Walsh together lit the Shamash and began the evening's activities.

Rabbi Mendy Goldberg, Associate Director of Lubavitch of the East End, presided over the evening, saying that a Shamash is a good leader who makes others leaders. He compared Lesko to that central candle. After the lighting of the Shamash, a group of children were brought up to quiz the crowd with riddles about Chanukah and its traditions. 

According to Rabbi Paula Taylor Saunders, who leads a congregation in Grenville, N.C., the menorah is a significant symbol for the Jewish people.

"The Maccabean revolt took back the Holy Temple from Seleucid king Antiochus who built an altar to Zeus and sacrificed pigs," he said. "The Menorah used for Chanukah has nine branches. It is called a Hanukiah."

One branch is taller than the others, usually the center. It is called a Shamash in Hebrew.  From that candle the others are lit one night after the other. The prayers and sequence of lighting for eight days represents the miracle God performed by allowing eight days of light from a one day supply of consecrated olive oil in the Sanctuary lamp.

Throughout the evening, Town Hall was redolent of the distinctive aroma of latkes, the customary potato and onion pancake that was served to the crowd.  With a dollop of apple sauce, it was a treat that was very easy to over-indulge in.  

Goldberg encouraged his Jewish friends to light their menorahs in places like windowsills and doorways, where its light could be seen from outside.  The Menorah is not only a sign of a particular celebration, it is a sign of Judaism and the pride that comes from the long history of the Jewish people.