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With this awareness of the powerful miracle of spiritual renewal that is such a vital part of Chanukah, we can understand the message of the Talmud's teaching (Shabbos 21b) that even the types of oil and wicks which cannot be used for lighting the Sabbath candelabra, are acceptable for use in the Menorah for Chanukah. The Chassidic work, Me'or Einayim explains: Even those souls who are so far removed from the Torah's teaching and practice that the light of the Sabbath cannot inspire them or draw them closer, can be touched by the light and inspiration of the Chanukah Menorah....

This year, for the first time, Chatham Borough's holiday tree will be joined by a giant menorah. The borough agreed to a request for a public menorah display by Shalom Lubin, who over the years has gained approval for menorahs in neighboring Madison, Florham Park, East Hanover and Chatham Township. Lubin, a rabbi and director of the Chabad of Southeast Morris County, said word is spreading and towns are saying "hey, you have one in your town, why don't we have one in our town?" "More and more towns are realizing that in the spirit of the holiday, being inclusive...

A man barred from placing a nativity scene in the Washington State Capitol rotunda last year will no longer face opposition from state officials.  ADF attorneys filed a lawsuit last year after state officials denied the request but allowed a menorah and a “holiday tree” to be displayed.  The parties settled the suit, allowing Ron Wesselius to display a nativity scene on behalf of citizens who celebrate Christmas.   “It’s incredible to think that Americans have to think twice about whether it is OK to celebrate Christmas in public,” said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Byron Babione.  “Just as it is constitutional...

Borough officials hope some holiday diplomacy will help avoid a First Amendment fight with the Closter Menorah Committee. The group, which has staged menorah-lighting ceremonies on public property for the last 25 years, threatened to sue the town last winter, when officials considered shutting down the event following a raucous time the year before. The Borough Council allowed the ceremony last year under tighter restrictions and, in a divided vote last week, chose to allow it again. But officials want the Dec. 6 event to move from the front lawn of Borough Hall to a park one block from downtown....

Tuesday January 9, 2007 Printer friendly version Email to a friend -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- New York: Steal the Baby Jesus, that's OK, Kick the Menorah Go to Jail NEW YORK, January 9, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - On Sunday, the New York Times ran a story about two 20-year-olds, and an 18-year-old, who were arrested for stealing statues of baby Jesus from nativity scenes over the past two years. They hit the New York-suburban communities of Suffern and Haverstraw several times in 2005 and 2006. The police said they will not charge them with committing hate crimes; each is being charged with 14 counts...

Each holiday season, the debate over religious displays on public property seems to return with the chilly weather. For some, combinations of lighted trees, menorahs, snowmen and crèches at town halls across North Jersey are nothing more than expressions of holiday cheer. But for others, the issue of which, if any, symbol is appropriate in public displays is far more complicated. The debate cuts to the core of fundamental beliefs about the relationship between government and religion. In Fair Lawn -- where more than 40 percent of residents are Jewish -- the divisive issue of whether to place a menorah...

A Hawaii county erected a Christmas tree to protect a Chanukah menorah from a church-state separation challenge. The American Civil Liberties Union complained to Maui County this week after seeing the menorah, accompanied by a dreidel, in front of the county building. A local rabbi had asked authorities for permission to set up the menorah. The ACLU cited laws that say that displaying a religious symbol by itself could constitute endorsement of that religion. County workers scrambled Wednesday to find a Christmas tree, in short supply in Hawaii this late in the season. One was found at a local botanical...

Governor Chris Gregoire lit a Menorah in a celebration at the state Capitol on Monday, and at the same celebration, accepted the gift of a Menorah for her home. The Menorah that was lit during the ceremony is displayed in the Capitol rotunda with a Christmas tree. However, when a local resident asked for a Nativity scene to be displayed with the Menorah and the tree, the Governor refused. This morning, at the request of a local resident, Liberty Counsel faxed a letter to Governor Gregoire along with our Legal Memorandum on the constitutionality of displaying religious symbols during the...

One thing I've come to realize is that many of us have an innate, enduring loyalty to our preconceptions. We'll stick with them through thick and thin, no matter what reality sends our way. I first realized this some twenty years ago when a friend and I, as two young Chabad-Lubavitch rabbinical students, spent our summers canvassing the state of Montana looking for Jews. We'd drive from town to town--some of which only had one or two Jewish families--and try to do our bit to encourage Jewish identity and observance. We were quite a curiosity, and were often featured in...

SEATAC, Wash. — The Christmas trees are going back up at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. Port of Seattle officials had ordered the trees taken down over the weekend after a local rabbi threatened a lawsuit if a menorah wasn't also displayed at the airport. Airport officials say they took that action out of concern that if they allowed the addition of a menorah, they would also have to display symbols of other religions and cultures, which was not something airport workers had time for during the busiest travel season of the year. Rabbi Elazar Bogomilsky says he never asked that the...

By Dalya Alberge, Arts Correspondent A COLLECTION of sacred artefacts looted by the Romans from the Temple of Jerusalem and long suspected of being hidden in the vaults of the Vatican are actually in the Holy Land, according to a British archaeologist. Sean Kingsley, a specialist in the Holy Land, claims to have discovered what became of the collection, which is widely regarded as the greatest of biblical treasures and includes silver trumpets that would have heralded the Coming of the Messiah. The trumpets, gold candelabra and the bejewelled Table of the Divine Presence were among pieces shipped to Rome...

Sharply Divided Court Upholds City's Anti-Christian Ban of Nativity in New York City Public Schools ANN ARBOR, MI — A sharply divided panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled that it is constitutionally permissible for New York City public schools to ban the display of the Christian nativity during Christmas, while permitting the display of the Jewish menorah and the Islamic star and crescent during Hanukkah and Ramadan. The legal challenge to this policy was brought by the Thomas More Law Center on behalf of Ms. Andrea Skoros and her two children, who attend...

Happy Hanukkah to FREEPERS! Menorahs around the world, including Israel, Washington DC, Moscow, Berlin, and China. One of these pictures features a special young man that I am very proud of. :)

In an effort to eliminate all religious symbols from the shopping center, management of Paseo Colorado is ending an annual Hanukkah menorah display. But the mall's towering Christmas tree stays: Paseo Colorado managers said the tree isn't a religious symbol. The shopping center has displayed the 13-foot-tall menorah - sponsored by Chabad of Pasadena, a Jewish congregation of about 300 people - for the past three years. The menorah is not allowed because religious symbols are not appropriate in the commercial center, which has no religious affiliation, said Colleen Dunn, regional general manager for Ohio-based Developers Diversified Realty, which manages...

Menorah destroyed by vandals in Orange County Associated Press MISSION VIEJO, Calif. - A public menorah erected on an Orange County town green to encourage understanding about Judaism and Hanukkah was destroyed by vandals. The 150-pound menorah, which was 15 feet high and 10 feet wide, was placed earlier this month in Ladera Ranch, a planned community near Mission Viejo. One or more vandals struck between 10 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. Saturday, cutting the menorah's stem, breaking its lightbulbs, and smashing its stars, said Orange County Sheriff's Lt. Lloyd Downing. He said the incident has been labeled a hate...

(IsraelNN.com) Gush Katif refugees, many of whom are still dwelling in hotels awaiting permanent housing, lit a unique menorah tonight, one made of mortar shells fired by Arab terrorists into the heart of N’vei Dekalim, the largest community of Gush Katif. That special menorah commemorates the miracle of Jewish survival throughout the ages, and reminds us of the symbolic role Gush Katif has played in the saga of Jewish history: a community standing victorious despite constant attempts by Arab terrorists to wipe it out. 5000 mortars rained down on Gush Katif, from the onset of the Oslo War in September...

PEABODY — Mayor Michael Bonfanti will not attend tomorrow night's menorah lighting ceremony at City Hall, as part of a compromise between the city and local religious leaders. The practice of lighting a large menorah in front of City Hall to mark the start of Hanukkah began last year when Rabbi Nechemia Schusterman of Chabad of Peabody, a Jewish outreach group unaffiliated with a Peabody synagogue, approached Bonfanti about placing a menorah at City Hall and asking him to light one of the candles. Chabad had a public lighting ceremony on the first night of the eight-day holiday last year....

MOSCOW, Russia – Chanukah celebrations get underway in Moscow on the evening of Sunday, December 25th at 4:30 PM. At that time, Manezhnaya Square, located just opposite the Kremlin, will feature the lighting of a giant 24-foot Menorah, ushering in the holiday in Russia. The Menorah lighting ceremony will be graced by the presence of Moscow Mayor Yuri Lushkov, Chief Rabbi of Russia Berel Lazar and Federation of Jewish Communities President Lev Leviev, along with other celebrities, dignitaries and hundreds of Moscow Jews. The Menorah lighting will be followed by a festive Chanukah concert, which has already been sold out,...

CBS) PASADENA, Calif. Paseo Colorado, the open-air mall in Pasadena, has become the latest battlefield in the nation's culture wars, though this time, it's Jews -- not conservative Christians -- who are crying foul. To the disappointment of local Jews, the management of Paseo Colorado is banishing an annual Hanukkah menorah display, saying religious symbols are not appropriate at the shopping center, the Pasadena Star-News reported Thursday. But Paseo will continue to feature its towering Christmas tree, which the management says is not a religious symbol, according to the newspaper. The mall has displayed the 13-foot-tall menorah for the past...

Call a Christmas tree a Christmas tree, Madison, WI Bishop Robert Morlino insists. "Historically, that's what it is. I don't think we want to call a menorah a candlestick," Morlino told reporters Monday at a news conference. The bishop called the news conference to respond to questions about his role on an advisory board to the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation - formerly the notorious School of the Americas. But it was in protection of Christmas and its customs from the politically correct trend of watering them down to vague "holiday" references that aroused Morlino's first - and most...

L.I. Community Outraged After Menorah Is Destroyed Holbrook Chamber Of Commerce Vows To Catch Those Responsible Jennifer McLogan Reporting Save It Email It Print It (CBS) HOLBROOK Many in the Long Island community of Holbrook are stunned. In a village plaza on Main Street next to an undamaged Christmas tree and nativity scene, a Hanukkah menorah appears to have been viciously smashed. Rick Ammirati, the president of the Holbrook Chamber of Commerce, said people are outraged. He vows to rebuild and restore it. Suffolk County's bias crime task force responded immediately when shaken community leaders called describing painful memories of...

While public officials, schools, and the ACLU worked overtime this year to ban every vestige of Christmas from the public square, the recently invented holiday known as Kwanzaa is gaining in popularity among black Americans. These occurrences are not unrelated. In an earlier time, blacks held a strong faith in God. But over the past 40 years, the black community has largely let God slip away. Sure the community has maintained the outer trappings of religion, but the solid morality at its core is nearly gone. Enter a God-hating black racist named Ron Karenga. Born Ron Everett on a poultry farm...

This is a partial transcript from "The O'Reilly Factor," Dec. 15, 2004, that has been edited for clarity. BILL O'REILLY, HOST: In the "Christmas Under Siege" segment tonight. As you know, the religious symbols of the federal holiday are under fire by secular forces all across the country. And in the Miami suburb of Bay Harbor Island, town officials there banned the nativity scene on public property while okaying a menorah for Hanukah. So Sondra Snowdon, a resident, sued. And today, she won. Joining us now from Miami is Ms. Snowdon. And from Ann Arbor, Michigan, Ed White, an attorney...

The group of about 35 people accused the shopping centers and their anchor stores, Macy's and Burdines, of exhibiting a double standard when it comes to religious symbols during the holidays. While both malls display menorahs for Hanukkah, they don't put up Nativity scenes for Christmas -- and they should, according to this group.

At a menorah-lighting ceremony Thursday on the third night of Hanukkah, President Bush prayed for the safety and quick return of U.S. soldiers serving in Iraq. "Today, many Americans are sacrificing to bring freedom and hope to the oppressed," Bush said before three candles were lighted on a 4-foot sterling silver candelabrum. "In this holiday season, we pray for the safety of our troops, for the success of their mission and for their speedy return home." The candles were lighted by Menachem, Chaim and Miriam Felzenberg, the three eldest children of Shmuel Felzenberg. Felzenberg is serving in Iraq as the...

22 Meters High, weighs 50 tons, has 1800 lights

The Jewish feast of Hanukkah has begun with the lighting of the National Menorah on the Ellipse -- the park between the White House and the Washington Monument. Rabbi Levi Shemtov, a celebrant at the ceremony, says the menorah represents illumination, with an additional branch lit each night of the eight-day ceremony. Hanukkah commemorates the Jewish victory over Greek oppressors almost 22-hundred years ago. Rabbi Shemtov says the National Menorah, which stands near the National Christmas Tree, is about 30 feet tall -- as big as Jewish tradition allows. In a White House message, President Bush says the menorah symbolizes...

A unique Chanukah candelabra is to be lit this evening at the White House in Washington, DC at the request of US President George Bush. The menorah was built by a Florida congregation in memory of Noam Apter, a 23-year-old student at the Otniel Yeshiva in the Hevron Hills region who was murdered by terrorists. Apter saved the lives of tens of his fellow students when, after two Islamic Jihad terrorists dressed as IDF soldiers infiltrated his school building, he locked himself inside the kitchen together with the Arab terrorists and hid the key - preventing the terrorists from entering...

Fireworks will highlight Tuesday night’s planned display of the world’s largest Menorah in Jerusalem. The electric Menorah will be displayed near the Center One shopping center, adjacent to Jerusalem’s central bus station. The traditional Menorah holds eight candles that symbolize the twin miracles of a small amount of oil that burnt for eight days and the Jews’ victory over Greek invaders and 2,000 years ago. A ninth candle is used to light the other candles, which Jewish law prohibits to be used other than for enjoyment. The 65-foot wide electric menorah has nine branches, each one more than 60 feet...

MUCH ABOUT HISTORYIsrael seeks returnof Temple artifacts Rabbis urge Vatican to permit search of storerooms for treasures Posted: January 16, 20041:00 a.m. Eastern © 2004 WorldNetDaily.com When Israel's chief rabbis meet Pope John Paul II today, they will seek permission to search Vatican storerooms for artifacts such as the huge golden menorah that stood in the Temple in Jerusalem 2,000 years ago. Vatican officials confirmed to the Associated Press the meeting would take place but declined comment on the rabbis' request. Yehuda Metzger and Shlomo Amar are to have an audience with Pope John Paul, the first by Israel's chief rabbis in...

JERUSALEM - Israel's chief rabbis, who will meet the pope Friday, said they hope to get permission to search Vatican storerooms for artifacts such as the huge golden menorah that stood in the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem 2,000 years ago. Vatican officials confirmed the meeting would take place but declined comment on the rabbis' request. Yehuda Metzger and Shlomo Amar are to have an audience with Pope John Paul II, the first by Israel's chief rabbis in the Vatican. The pope met Israel's previous chief rabbis in the Holy Land during his visit in 2000. Amar, spiritual leader of Israel's...

Crèche finds home at Palm Beach church By Tim O'Meilia, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer Thursday, December 25, 2003 PALM BEACH -- A blue-eyed baby Jesus -- fashioned from Italian resin -- looked out from his manger at the Bethesda-by-the-Sea parishioners filing by dressed in their holiday best on their way to the 4 p.m. Christmas Eve children's service. Mary and Joseph looked lovingly at the infant. Three shepherds, two sheep and a donkey stood nearby. Two foreign kings approached, gifts in hand. Overhead, a cherub watched. This is the Nativity scene two Palm Beach residents wanted to donate to...

CHANUKAH LIVE! WEBCAST OF MENORAH LIGHTINGS AROUND THE WORLD, BEGINNING AT 2:45 P.M.

Fri Dec 19, 4:47 PM ET California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (L) hands out candy with local rabbis to children at the 10th annual Menorah Lighting Ceremony on the west steps State Capitol in Sacramento, California, December 19, 2003. Hanukkah begins December 20. REUTERS/Ken James

<p>If you like your Christmases straight -- i.e., "Merry Christmas" instead of "Season's Greetings" -- the run up to Dec. 25 can be a trying time. And this year the grinches are again out in full force, trying their best to strip from our public squares any hint of what most Americans will actually be celebrating come Christmas morn.</p>

HOLIDAY BLUESCity censors nativity scene but not menorahResidents sue officials who allow Jewish observance on public property Posted: December 16, 20031:00 a.m. Eastern © 2003 WorldNetDaily.com Two residents of Palm Beach, Fla., filed suit against the city yesterday because officials there allow the display of Jewish menorahs on public property but do not allow Christian nativity scenes. The Michigan-based Thomas More Law Center, a public-interest law firm, brought the suit on behalf of Maureen Donnell and Fern deNarvaez. According to the law center, the suit demands the city immediately allow a nativity scene to be placed on city property, just as two...