Miami Shores mayor wanted to put a menorah at village hall but was denied
Miami Shores rejected a proposal to add a menorah to its holiday decorations at Village Hall this year after several village officials spoke this week against the move, saying First
Amendment concerns outweighed support from the mayor and several
Jewish community members.
Mayor Crystal Wagar proposed Tuesday that the village display a menorah during the winter holidays as “a nice show of respect and a show of religious diversity.”
“Many municipalities around us display menorahs along with their Christmas decorations,” said Wagar, who became the first Black mayor in the city’s 87-year history in 2019. “There really shouldn’t be a discussion of this. This should be something we’re willing to do.”
But Village Attorney Richard Sarafan, who is Jewish, said it’s not so simple. Displaying the Hanukkah symbol could be seen as the village favoring one religion over others, he said — a potential violation of the U.S. Constitution’s establishment clause.
“You’re begging for litigation,” Sarafan said. “It is simply not the role of government to support or appear to support any particular religion.”
Sarafan said some courts have made legal distinctions between governments supporting religious symbols, which isn’t allowed, and holiday symbols, which is allowed.
“A Christmas tree, oddly enough, under the law is not always viewed as a religious symbol,” Sarafan said. “It’s a holiday symbol.”
Sarafan applied the distinction to Hanukkahrelated objects: A dreidel, the four-sided spinning top played during Hanukkah, is a holiday symbol and not a religious symbol, he said, because it’s “not integral” to the holiday’s religious origins. But a menorah is a religious
symbol, he said.
The attorney said that, if the village allows one type of religious display on government property, it may need to allow them all — as Florida’s state government did in 2013, welcoming a pole celebrating the fake holiday Festivus from the TV show Seinfeld and a spaghetti monster alongside a nativity scene in the Capitol in Tallahassee.
One Miami Shores councilman, Stephen Loffredo, supported the mayor’s proposal and made a motion to approve it. Loffredo, an attorney himself, even suggested he would defend the village for free if it got sued. But three other council members declined to second his motion, killing it before it could reach a vote.
Councilman Sean Brady said he wouldn’t support any type of religious display on government property.
“I would be offended by crosses and nativity scenes in front of Village Hall,” he said. “That’s the only reason I would not want to vote to do this.”
The decision caught the attention of the mayors of multiple nearby cities that display menorahs on their property each winter. Miami’s mayor, Francis Suarez, weighed in on Twitter Wednesday evening, writing that Miami Shores “must reconsider its wrong decision to refuse a menorah being place at Village Hall during Hanukkah.”
“There is no good reason to deny this request. A menorah stands for religious liberty and proudly stands tall at Miami City Hall each year,” Suarez wrote.
Bal Harbour Mayor Gabriel Groisman, who is Jewish, also called attention to the matter in a tweet. He told the Miami Herald he hopes the public pressure will push the council to change its mind.
“Despite the leaps that society has taken forward, when I heard what was happening in Miami Shores, it was just a strong reminder of where we still are and things we have to deal with,” he said in an interview.
For several Miami-Dade County municipalities, standing up a menorah on public property during the winter holidays is a well-established practice. Often, the menorah is located near a Christmas tree.
Miami Beach, which traditionally holds a menorah lighting outside City Hall, defended its practice in a 2019 memo drafted by then-City Attorney Raul Aguila, who said a local government can display religious decorations as long as there is a “secular purpose” to the overall display.
Even having a nativity scene and an inflatable Santa Claus together would be enough to meet that legal requirement, he said.
Aguila cited a 2004 ruling in which a federal judge ordered the town of Bay Harbor Islands to let a resident display a Christian nativity scene alongside a menorah on the Broad Causeway. That conflict turned into a political fiasco after the resident, Sandra Snowden, embarked on a three-month hunger strike to protest the town’s rejection of her initial request.
“The Snowden court concluded that there was a secular purpose for the Town’s subsequent display: a Christmas tree and menorah together, demonstrating a secular purpose to celebrate the December holidays,” wrote Aguila, who is now the interim city manager.
Wagar referenced the Bay Harbor Islands case in support of her proposal Tuesday, but Sarafan said he disagreed with her interpretation and that other case law on the topic is “all over the place.”
Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber, who is Jewish, said in an interview that Wagar’s proposal “is not only legal but spot on,” and that the council was led astray by its village attorney.
“They obviously got incorrect legal advice because it’s pretty well-established that you can celebrate the holiday season as we do throughout our city,” Gelber said. “We have trees, we have menorahs, it’s perfectly appropriate. And the courts have said so.”
Miami Shores, which has about 10,000 residents and sits just west of the Intracoastal Waterway, has a history of promoting Christmas-related events and displays. There’s a Christmas tree each year outside Village Hall, and an annual Winterfest features a Christmas tree-lighting and an appearance by Santa Claus.
But Sarafan said the village’s current approach passes legal muster.
“We don’t have Christmas decorations up in Village Hall or on village property. We have holiday decorations,” the village attorney said. “We take great care not to show preference for one religion or another.”
Rabbi Asher Sossonko, who helps run Chabad of Miami Shores, said during Tuesday’s council meeting that putting a menorah at Village Hall is “very important for the community.” Wagar said recent conversations with Sossonko had prompted her to make the proposal.
“I speak to people all the time, Jewish members of Miami Shores, non-Jewish members,” Sossonko said. “I get constant support for a menorah to be at [Village] Hall.”
The menorah debate has gotten swept up in community discussion of an upcoming April 13 election, in which four candidates — and just one incumbent, Jonathan Meltz — are running for three seats. Wagar, the mayor, will stay on the council but surrender her mayoral seat to the top votegetter.
New members will be sworn in April 20, which could give Wagar a fresh chance to raise the issue again before the holiday season.
In a community Facebook group Wednesday, some residents used the menorah issue as a springboard to call for broader changes.
“Yes to the menorah. No to the village manager, the attorney and the council members that can’t see this for what it is,” one resident said. “This shouldn’t even be a question. See everyone at the lighting next year.”
Aaron Leibowitz: 305-376-2235, @aaron_leib Martin Vassolo: 305-376-2071, martindvassolo