Photo by JHV: MICHAEL C. DUKE Hundreds of children attended Chabad’s Chanukah on Ice celebration at The Galleria, which culminated in the lighting of a 7-foot chanukiah ice sculpture.

By MICHAEL C. DUKE

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Menorah is a religious symbol, but public lighting is not a religious observance, rabbi says

Thank G-d we’re not in Seattle,” was the observation made by Houstonian Yaffa Smith, who was among the some 1,000 people who turned out for the Chanukah on Ice celebration at The Galleria, an event that included a car-menorah parade and the lighting of a 7-foot tall chanukiah made of ice. “I mean no disrespect to the city or people of Seattle; we’re just so fortunate to live in a city where people are comfortable in their religious skins and respect each other’s religious differences,” she said.

Smith’s comments were in reference to the recent flap over public displays of religion at the Seattle-Tacoma airport, which initially saw the removal of 13 plastic Christmas trees because the airport refused to include a chanukiah and/or other non-Christian symbols as part of its winter holiday display. No such controversy over the “December Dilemma” has occurred in Houston as of late, exemplified by the well-attended and trouble-free Galleria affair on Dec. 17, and the lighting of an 11-foot menorah at City Hall on Dec. 16; both events took place in the presence of much larger, richly decorated Christmas trees.

Photo by JHV: MICHAEL C. DUKE Fred Zeidman lights the shamash on the 11-foot tall chanukiah at Houston City Hall, while Rabbi Moishe Traxler steadies the ladder.

Public menorah lightings have become the lox and bagel of the Chabad Lubavitch movement, ever since the first Chabad-sponsored public menorah lighting took place next to the Liberty Bell in downtown Philadelphia in 1974. Since then, public menorah lightings have grown exponentially, with thousands being performed around the world, with many, if not most, the work of Chabad schluchim (emissaries).

It was the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, of blessed memory, who initiated the public menorah lighting campaign as a means to counteract assimilation, to promote Jewish pride and celebrate Yiddishkeit. However, the public menorah lightings have not been without criticism, a signifi­cant amount coming from Jewish organizations, such as the American Jewish Congress, Anti-Defamation League and the Union for Reform Judaism, to name three. Though the complaints vary from city to city, most take the position that menorah lightings on public land violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, which calls for the separation of religion and state.

Several lawsuits have been filed over the past few years over public menorah lightings, with at least one landing before the Supreme Court. In 1989, in Allegheny County v. American Civil Liberties Union, the Supreme Court ruled that an 18-foot menorah that Chabad had erected at Pittsburgh City Hall was not in violation of the Establishment Clause, because the menorah had been placed alongside a Christmas tree. The ruling stated that the menorah-Christmas tree display did not serve as an official endorsement by the government of a particular religion, but as a recognition that “both Christmas and Chanukah are part of the same winter-holiday season, which has attained a secular status in our society.” From the same ruling, the Court ordered county officials to remove a crèche (Nativity scene) in one of its courthouses, as it sent a purely and singularly religious message, that of Christianity.

Ironic is, however, that in Chabad’s efforts to celebrate the miracle of Chanukah publicly – and on public property – the Supreme Court seemingly declared that the chanukiah is a secular, meaning nonreligious, symbol.

Photo by JHV: MICHAEL C. DUKE Rabbi Dovid Goldstein, associate director of Chabad Outreach of Houston, kindles the third candle atop the Chanukah on Ice menorah.

While Rabbi Moishe Traxler is pleased with the Court’s ruling allowing public menorah lightings, he insists that the chanukiah is a religious symbol. Yet, he still maintains that lighting a chanukiah on public property is constitutional. Rabbi Traxler is director of Chabad Outreach of Houston, an organ of Chabad Lubavitch of Texas, which has sponsored public menorah lightings in and around Houston for the past 11 years. The events always are well attended, particularly those at Houston City Hall, with this year’s drawing approximately 400 people, and which included a special address by U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council chairman, Fred Zeidman.

According to Rabbi Traxler, though a chanukiah is a religious symbol, its lighting on public property is permissible because such a ceremony is not a religious observance in that it does not fulfill the religious, or halakhic, obligation of lighting Chanukah candles; this must be done at one’s home, the rabbi stated, as did the program notes that were handed out to participants who attended Saturday’s public lighting at City Hall.

And, although it is a religious symbol, a menorah that is lit in a public ceremony does not constitute an official endorsement of Judaism by the government, nor does it force itself on anyone, the rabbi added: “In fact, proselytizing is against the Jewish religion.”

Answering the question then of why have a public lighting in the first place, Rabbi Traxler referred to Chanukah’s uniqueness among all other Jewish holidays and festivals: “Jews are instructed specifically to publicize the miracle of Chanukah. We place our menorahs in the front windows of our homes so that the lights shine outward into the streets, illuminating the darkness. Menorahs are supposed to be seen, and by as many people as possible, which is why Chabad has taken to lighting menorahs in public areas.” Lubavitchers characterize their schluchim as “lamplighters” whose mission is to kindle the sparks that exist inside every Jewish soul – in the case of public menorah lightings, “to bring Jews back to their Jewish roots.”

Moreover, public menorah lightings help to celebrate the message of Chanukah, that of religious freedom, which coincides well with the founding of the United States, Rabbi Traxler continued: “This great nation was founded on the notion of freedom of religion, not freedom from religion. And the Chanukah menorah represents this religious freedom. It is an inspiring symbol, one that celebrates the victory of righteousness over evil and oppression.”

Back at the Chanukah on Ice program, after the festivities were over, Smith marveled at the event’s impressive turnout: “I used to take my sons to these events when they were young. The parties were a lot smaller back then, but we always had a great time. The boys are all grown up now, but I still keep coming back. I can’t believe how big this event has become – it’s absolutely amazing, the recognition and respect, for Chanukah, but also for Jews! And, so much credit goes to The Galleria, to the city of Houston and, of course, Chabad for making it all happen.”