HOLIDAY OF HOPE, SEASON OF LIGHT IN A YEAR OF DISTANCE
Hub gets creative in celebrating Hanukkah
Hanukkah — a holiday about “hope, rededication and resilience” — is all that and more this year.
Normally a time spent with friends and families inside homes, where people cook latkes and spin the dreidel together, is dramatically different due to the coronavirus.
Those in the local Jewish community are planning ways to gather from afar in the next eight days. Virtual and socially distant menorah lightings are scheduled, along with a public art installation in eight Bostonarea neighborhoods.
The holiday about “hope, rededication and resilience” comes at the perfect time amid the surging pandemic, said Robert Trestan, AntiDefamation League’s New England regional director.
“Those are all of the things everybody needs right now,” he told the Herald ahead of the annual Boston Common menorah lighting Thursday evening, a socially distant kindling of New England’s tallest menorah with Gov. Charlie Baker and Mayor Martin Walsh in attendance.
“Hanukkah is the Festival of Lights, and we all need the light to be shined upon us and the future right now,” Trestan added. “We should all take a deep breath, be grateful for what we have, and be hopeful for the future.”
Families and friends who are not physically together are planning virtual menorah lightings on Zoom, along with area synagogues.
It’s a drastic change for many as Hanukkah is the “quintessential holiday at home,” said Marc Baker, CEO and president of Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston.
But the CJP leader said he’s “incredibly encouraged” by the creative ways people are virtually celebrating the holiday.
“I’m inspired by how the community continues to bring light, step up, and make sure we’re doing everything we can to bright
en up the world,” he said.
“Nothing will stop us from lighting this menorah,” he added. “We’ve lit it under some very trying circumstances for thousands of years, some dark circumstances, and nothing has stopped us from lighting these candles. It’s a very important message for the world right now.”
In Newton, the Parent Association of the Solomon Schechter Day School of Greater Boston is organizing a socially-distant “Amazing Hanukkah Race” for families on Sunday morning, followed by a Zoom candle lighting in the evening.
“It’s a way to build community and do it in a safe way,” said Shirah Rosin, a co-chair of the Parent Association.
Also, the Jewish Arts Collaborative, through the Brighter Connected art installations, is bringing the light of Hanukkah to eight
Boston-area neighborhoods through works of art in windows. The pieces are designed for social distancing.