Cranberry holds annual Hanukkah light event
CRANBERRY TWP — Christmas may be over, but Hanukkah is in full swing.
A group of Jewish and non-Jewish people from around the area gathered Tuesday night outside the Cranberry Municipal Center for the fourth annual Light Up the Night.
Hanukkah, the Jewish Festival of Lights, started Saturday night and lasts eight days.
Since it was the fourth night of Hanukkah, Rabbi Ely Rosenfeld, with help from members of the crowd, lit four of the torches on the 9-foot tall menorah plus the shamash, which is the name for the candle used to light the other candles.
The event was sponsored by Chabad Fox Chapel and the Cranberry Jewish Community Association.
Hanukkah celebrates the rededication of the temple by the Maccabees after their victory over the Syrians. Legend has it that when they returned to their temple they only had enough lamp oil to last one day, but it miraculously lasted eight days.
Rosenfeld said that Hanukkah shares a “message of light” that is demonstrated through lighting one additional candle each night.
Those candles can be symbolic, he said.
“If you light one candle each night, add one light each night, take one more step each night, only then can we bring a light that will last,” he said.
The Rev. Andrew Fischer of St. Ferdinand Catholic Church, located next door to the municipal center, was also in attendance and helped the rabbi light one of the candles.
The religions have a lot in common, such as the Christian ancestry coming from the Jewish faith, he said.
“The Catholic and Jewish faiths have a good relationship,” he said.
After lighting the candles, Rabbi Aaron Herman of Pittsburgh performed a juggling act and told a Hanukkah story.
“I think it's great to give people who live here a chance to celebrate as a community,” Herman said of the event.
Barb Wilson of Ellwood City brought her family.“I love it, where else would you find a Hanukkah festival?” she said.Wilson is administrator of Beth Samuel Jewish Center in Ambridge, the only Jewish synagogue in Beaver County.She said that the center only has one family from Cranberry Township, but it would welcome more and is only a 20-minute drive from the township.Barbara Negrini of Franklin Park said she attended the lighting for the first time and enjoyed the ceremony.“It was cute, it was fun,” she said.The menorah will remain in place outside the township building until the conclusion of the holiday on Jan. 1.
