Survivor lights twp. menorah
CRANBERRY TWP — Up two steps, a survivor of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting balanced herself on a ladder Sunday and held a tiki torch to light the first candle on a menorah towering over the township's municipal center.
“I was invited to light up the candle and I couldn't say no,” said Carol Black, who was with her brother, Richard Gottfried, at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Squirrel Hill on Oct. 27, when a gunman killed 11 people. Gottfried was one of those who died.
“I wanted to be a part of these festivities,” she said.
For the past five years, people from all faiths have gathered in front of the municipal center to celebrate the last night in an eight-day Jewish ritual, Hanukkah, by lighting a menorah.
This year, Jacki Larson of Cranberry noticed that there were more people than ever before.
“We've done this every year since inception and what's really lovely is it's been growing every year,” Larson said.
A Seneca Valley School District teacher, Larson wore a “Stronger Than Hate” shirt, which replaces one of the astroids in the Pittsburgh Steelers logo with the Star of David.
“There are a lot of non-Jews here, too, who are showing interest in our religion and culture,” she said. “It's great.”
Larson said that she saw a student of her's who isn't Jewish, and that “he was so open minded. We need more of that.”
She continued, “The outpouring of support is truly amazing to me.”
Sunday night started with a demonstration from Rabbi Elchonon Friedman of Pittsburgh on pressing olives for oil used in menorah candles.
“Some of you are wearing shirts that say 'Stronger Than Hate,'” he said to a group of more than a dozen. “That's the spirit of Hanukkah.”
He continued, “Right now it's a really appropriate time to be out on the streets celebrating Hanukkah.”
With some help, Friedman was able to squeeze enough oil out of the olives to be used for a menorah he had nearby. Several children sat on the floor around the table, thrilled by the demonstration. Their excitement only increased with the handing out of kazoos.
Later, with the participants leaving the building for the main menorah lighting, Friedman cleaned the miniature press that was used for the demonstration.
Asked about the synagogue shooting, he said: “This isn't Europe 100 years ago. I don't believe there's more anti-Semitism in America than at any other time.
“I think people have lost themselves and the message of that one light will bring us all together, bringing people into the fold.”
The world isn't more hateful towards Jews, Friedman said, but rather technology and a loss of faith have created disillusioned people.
“It's our essential value that God has given us that we've lost,” he said. “The problem we're facing is more than anti-Semitism. It comes from a total sense of loss of value. This is becoming a problem of our age.”
