DREIDELS AND DRONES
Technology mixes with tradition at annual Hanukkah menorah lighting
T he message of Hanukkah — light’s triumph over darkness — was shared on Monday as a one-of-a-kind menorah took flight and lighted the night sky for a festive crowd in Bricktown.
A fun fusion of faith and technology, the lighted menorah hanging by wires attached to a large drone made its debut at the fourth annual public menorah lighting ceremony at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark’s third base plaza, 2 S Mickey Mantle Drive.
About 175 people clapped and cheered at the unveiling of the “Drone-orah.”
It provided a whimsical aspect to the ceremony marking the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, which began Saturday.
“This menorah is the result of innovation in Oklahoma City,” said Rabbi Ovadia Goldman, spiritual leader of the Chabad Community Center of Jewish Life and Learning, which hosts the ceremony each year.
The eight-day holiday of Hanukkah commemorates the victory of a band of Jews, the Maccabees, against Greek-Syrian occupiers in 165 B.C. and the rededication of the Jewish Temple.
When the Maccabees reclaimed the temple from their oppressors, they wanted to light the eternal light, known as the N’er Tamid, which is in every Jewish house of worship. According to tradition, once lit, the oil lamp should never be extinguished, but the Maccabees had only enough oil for one day.
During Hanukkah, Jewish families celebrate the miracle that the lamp stayed lit for eight days with the small amount of oil that remained. The most popular symbol of Hanukkah is the menorah, a type of lamp.
Goldman said students in his “How Success Thinks” class at the Chabad center divided into two groups to come up with creative ways to share the Hannukah message. The menorah, he said, stands as a symbol and message of the triumph of freedom over oppression, of spirit over matter, of light over darkness.
He said one group created a special T-shirt that featured the shape of the state of Oklahoma with a menorah and other symbols in the middle. Goldman said the other group of students came up with the idea for a menorah propelled by a drone. Monday, he said the students called their invention a “Droneorah” and they teamed up with Red Fork Aerial Solutions to make the idea a reality.
The special technologically savvy “Drone-orah” flew west from the top of the Chickasha Bricktown Ballpark, circled over the watching crowd and finally hovered close to the staging area where Goldman stood.
The rabbi told the crowd, which included Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett, that it was “an innovative menorah for Oklahoma City’s innovative district,” referencing the city’s ongoing development of an Innovation District east of downtown.
Meanwhile, during the menorah lighting portion of the event, Cornett was given the honor of lighting the “shamesh candle” on the menorah which is used to light the other candles. The mayor thanked Goldman for inviting him to be part of the ceremony.
“I love the fundamentals of this event — light over darkness,” he said.
Cornett also shared a brief message about the importance of unity, telling the crowd that leaders from different cities often visit Oklahoma City and sometimes take away ideas they duplicate in their own communities.
“But what they can’t extract is our sense of unity that this city has. It really is our secret ingredient,” he said.
The mayor praised city residents for being a community that “works hard and dreams big,” and doing so together “just as we are lighting this menorah together.”
Monday’s celebration featured other symbols and customs of Hanukkah including the dreidel, which is a type of spinning top, plus jelly doughnuts and hot latkes or potato pancakes. Doughnuts and latkes are traditionally eaten during Hanukkah because they are fried in oil, paying homage to the “miracle of the oil.”
The Bricktown gathering included live Hanukkah music and singing, prayers, and “Dreidel Man,” portrayed by Mendel Wolowik, who danced with children and took pictures with people in the crowd.
Afterward, people were treated to free Hanukkah treats of doughnuts and latkes handed out by Chabad volunteers.
A metro resident from Israel, Or Kribos, was especially thrilled to see the blend of technology and faith take shape through the “Drone-orah.”
“It was amazing,” he said.
“As people may scorn religion as backwards, it’s really quite spectacular to see how the Jewish organization of Chabad is at the nexus of religion and modernity and technology.”