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11/27/2023 11:52 AMMenorah lights will once again shine brightly on the North Haven Town Green, with a lighting on Thursday, Dec. 7. The annual event marks the start of Hanukkah, an eight-day celebration of light and positivity.
Resident Sherman Katz brought the annual menorah lighting to the town several years ago as a way to recognize Jewish North Haven residents throughout the holiday.
“The celebration of Hanukkah should be a universal thing. It’s a festival of lights; it’s for people to be enlightened; it’s for people to be happy and joyous for what you have,” said Katz. “It would let people in North Haven know that they are Jewish people here too, that we’re part of the town.”
When Katz brought the idea of the Menorah lighting to North Haven to First Selectman Mike Freda, the town’s chief executive saw it as a long-awaited chance to embrace the Jewish community adjacent to the lighting of the tree on the Green for Christmas.
“We should have been doing this for years, and I don’t know why we’ve never done it even before me,” said Freda. “I’m elected by the people and I serve everybody, regardless of what their political affiliation is, what their nationalities are. I’m not here to serve just a certain sector. When Sherman brought it to attention, [I said], ‘Absolutely.' We want to support the Jewish community here. In my mind, that suggestion represented a powerful symbol for how we can acknowledge the fact publicly and celebrate a very significant holiday for the Jewish community.”
The menorah lighting on the Town Green would be a way to signify an “informed, warm, open, inclusive, loving and caring community” in North Haven, said Freda.
Katz said the menorah lighting should also be a form of “stimulation” and a way to reach people “and get them involved in what goes on in town,” especially following a low voter turnout this past municipal election year.
Returning to the lighting will be Rabbi Moshe Hecht of the Chabad of Hamden. With the turbulent conflict of the Israel-Hamas War, both Hecht and Katz see the event as an opportunity to bring all peoples together and provide literal and figurative light for the community, given the situation overseas.
“A little light dispels a lot of darkness! Now more than ever before, we must dispel the darkness of the world with the light of the menorah,” said Hect. “The message of Hanukkah is simple: each of us is a light, and together, our good deeds have a radiant force of positivity and goodness.”
The Chabad of Hamden will be handing out menorahs at the lighting on Dec. 7, which will begin at 5 p.m.
“This year, let’s resolve to bring more light into the world, dispel the darkness, and make our world a brighter and better place for all,” said Hecht.