St. George, Cedar City prepare for menorah lighting as Hanukkah approaches

ST. GEORGE — Four years ago the first public menorah lighting in St. George took place at Town Square Park and marked the beginning of Hanukkah.

In this file photo, Rabbi Mendy Cohen and St. George Mayor Michelle Randall light the central branch of a 12-foot menorah in downtown St. George, Utah, Nov. 28, 2021 | Photo by Ammon Teare, St. George News

While the holiday is set to return to St. George, the Jewish “festival of lights” will also be observed in Cedar City with its own menorah lighting in Mayor Square.

“This year we decided to go all out for Cedar City for Hanukkah,” Rabbi Mendy Cohen said Wednesday. “For the first time, we have a menorah lighting on the second day of Hanukkah. It’s very exciting.”

Hanukkah begins Sunday, Dec. 18, and runs through Monday, Dec. 26. The menorah in St. George will be lit the first night of Hanukkah while the one in Cedar City will be lit the following day.

Both events are organized by the Jewish Chabad Center which is led by Cohen. Previous menorah lightings at the St. George Town Square have brought out hundreds of people from diverse backgrounds and faiths and has grown in participation each time.

“Every year it’s become greater and bigger and it’s beautiful to see,” Cohen said. “We have very big support from the community.”

The menorah lighting in St. George will take place at the Town Square Park, 50 S. Main St., at 5 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 18, while the Cedar City menorah lighting will be held at Mayor Square, 23 W. Center St., at 5:30 p.m. Monday, Dec. 19. Both events are free to the public.

The rabbi estimated that are 2,000-to-2,500 Jews spread across Southern Utah who observe their faith with varying levels of activity from not-at-all to attending weekly shabbat services. Whatever the case, the Chabad Jewish Center is on a mission to reach out to as many Jews as possible in order to build a vibrant Jewish community in which individuals and families can take part.

The public observance of Hanukkah helps promote that mission while also highlighting the message of not keeping yourself or your beliefs hidden.

A menorah, jelly donuts, latkes (potato pancakes) and dreidels and coins each represent aspects of the Hanukkah holiday, St George, Utah, Dec. 14, 2020 | Photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News

Hanukkah (also spelled Chanukah) represents a time in 168 B.C. when, according to Jewish tradition, the Jewish people rebelled against the attempts of Syrian king Antiochus Epiphanes to abolish Judaism.

Led by the Maccabees, the Jewish people were able to defeat the Syrian Greeks who had sought to place restrictions on their faith and convert them to paganism. They also desecrated and defiled the Jewish temple and the oils prepared for the lighting of the menorah, which was part of the daily service.

Once the temple was recaptured, the Jews set to lighting the menorah as a way to rededicate the temple to God. However, only one jar of undefiled oil – enough to burn for one day – was found and used. The oil lasted eight days. That is how long it took for new oil to be prepared for use, Cohen said.

In commemoration of the miracle of the lights, Jews the world over celebrate Hanukkah by lighting a menorah.

“It’s a time to celebrate our Jewish pride, to celebrate our Jewish identity, to celebrate our right to practice our religion in the open, in public, and be proud of it,” Cohen said as he described what Hanukkah meant to him.

During a time when antisemitism is on the rise, the rabbi said, Hanukkah teaches that people can smother the darkness and approach challenges with light, and “make you proud of who you are.”

Cohen added that anyone who wants a free menorah and candles for Hanukkah can visit the Chabad Center’s website for details.

Another factor that makes this year’s menorah lighting in St. George and Cedar City special is that it’s the year of Hakhel, or Year of Gathering. The word is Hebrew for “gathering” or “assembling,” according to the Chabad website.

Anciently, the time of gathering occurred once every seven years on the Jewish holiday of Sukkot. This would take place at the temple in Jerusalem where “the king read selections from the Torah to the huge crowd and the event inspired the nation to greater commitment to Jewish life and learning for the next seven years.”

in this file photo, over 200 people gather at St. George Town Square for the first-ever lighting of a public menorah in the city, St. George, Utah, Dec. 9, 2018 | Photo by Sheldon Demke, St. George News

In the modern age, observance of Hakhel was restored by Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson whom the Chabad credits with leading Judaism’s post-Holocaust renaissance.

It is also in that spirit of gathering that the Jewish Center organized the menorah lighting in Cedar City, Cohen said.

Currently, the Jewish community in Cedar City – which was brought together in part through the efforts of roving Chabad rabbinical students and their “mitzvah tank” in 2019 – conducts weekly services and other activities that Cohen helps lead. When the community there becomes big enough it will gain its own rabbi, Cohen said.

In St. George, shabbat services and related activities are held in a rented space at the Red Lion Hotel on Bluff Street. However, the Jewish Center is actively looking for a permanent home.

Cohen and his wife, Chaya, and their family moved to St. George in late 2018 in order to establish a Chabad Jewish Center in Southern Utah in order to help grow the Jewish community here.

Individuals and families interested in learning more about worship services and activities can visit the Chabad Jewish Center website or call 435-619-6630 or email info@JewishSU.com for additional information.

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2022, all rights reserved.

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