Cranberry Township’s Hanukkah ceremony brings light to community
CRANBERRY TWP — Chabad of Cranberry celebrated its 10th annual menorah lighting Monday evening, Dec. 30, complete with prayer, traditional Hanukkah songs, hot chocolate, latkes, doughnuts, a dreidel dance and a newer tradition called the Grand Gelt Drop.
The event was free and welcomed people of all faiths.
This year marked the 50th anniversary of the first public menorah lighting in the United States, which took place in Philadelphia.
“(It was) a transformative moment in how Hanukkah was observed and perceived,” said Rabbi Yossi Feller, who organized the event. “Before that, people were mostly celebrating it in private.”
Chabad, a national Jewish church organization, now hosts over 15,000 menorah lightings around the globe, including landmarks like the Great Wall of China.
Jimmy Carter was the first president to light a menorah at the white house on the fourth night of Hanukkah in 1979. He passed away Sunday, exactly 45 years later to the Jewish calendar date.
“Public menorahs are powerful symbols, which represent the visibility of Jewish identity. The light of the menorah symbolizes triumph of light, freedom and truth over darkness,” Feller said. “In today’s context of rising antisemitism and global tension, public menorah lightings are even more powerful — a symbol of our nation’s dedication to preserve and encourage the right and liberty of all its citizens to worship God openly and with pride, Jewish pride.”
The Jewish Festival of Lights, an eight-day observance typically in November or December is a commemoration of the rededication of the Temple by the Maccabees after their victory over the Syrians during the second century B.C.
Feller and Chabad work to bring this international heritage to Cranberry every year with a unique twist — the Grand Gelt Drop.
This involves the Cranberry Fire Department dropping chocolate coins from the top of a fire truck ladder. Children then gather the coins to eat and enjoy. The coins represent money, which translates to “gelt” in Yiddish.
“A big part of the holiday of Hanukkah is educating our children,” Feller said. “ We give our children Hanukkah gelt both as a gift for them and to educate them about giving charity.”
The event also featured a raffle basket and the winner received Hanukkah-themed cookies and a $25 gift card from Amazon. Glowsticks were provided to all along with festive coloring sheets and opportunities to play dreidel.
Feller said the purpose of his organization is to “serve the entire community of Cranberry and all their Jewish needs,” so this event is the highlight of his family’s year.
“There are Jewish people living throughout Cranberry and it’s important for them to have a celebration they can go to so they can display their Jewish pride out in the open,” he said.
He also noted the importance of lighting a menorah inside the home. As a result, Chabad of Cranberry provided attendees with menorah kits to take home for themselves.
“Remember to turn on the light, the inner light varies without a doubt inside your heart, even if it is ever so small, because even a small light can push away the darkness around us,” Feller said.
