South Hills celebrates Chanukah
Harry Funk / The Almanac
Rabbi Mendel Rosenblum climbs a ladder to light the menorah along Potomac Avenue. Helping to steady him is Dormont Borough Council member Drew Lehman.
Hope Tighe, 1 1/2, extends a small gift to the photographer at Mt. Lebanon Public Library.
Harry Funk / The Almanac
Eleanor Gabuzda shows her craft at Mt. Lebanon Public Library.
Three candles were lit Dec. 3 on the menorah along Potomac Avenue in Dormont.
As befitting the occasion, the annual South Hills Lights Community Chanukah Festival was filled with the spirit of celebration.
That included celebrating the lives of the 11 victims of the Oct. 27 Tree of Life Congregation shooting.
Harry Funk / The Almanac
Kate Abel, Dormont Council president, speaks at the festival.
“In Jewish tradition, the first 30 days are the days of the most immense mourning. And then once the 30 days ends, we look forward with hope and renewal,” Rabbi Mendel Rosenblum said prior to the traditional igniting of menorah candles.
“It so happens that Chanukah coincides with the end of that 30-day period,” he said. “And what an inspiration it is to look at the lights that we’ll light tonight, and to gain the inspiration of the lights and everything they mean.”
Rosenblum, director of Chabad of the South Hills – Jewish Center for Living and Learning in Mt. Lebanon, spoke to open the celebration, which took place Dec. 2, the second evening of Chanukah, along a blocked-off portion of Potomac Avenue in Dormont.
He read the names of those who lost their lives while worshiping at the Tree of Life: Joyce Feinberg, Richard Gottfried, Rose Mallinger, Jerry Rabinowitz, Cecil Rosenthal, David Rosenthal, Bernice Simon, Sylvan Simon, Daniel Stein, Melvin Wax and Irving Younger.
“I would like the lighting tonight to be in their memory, because even though their lives ended on that tragic day, their legacy lives on,” Rosenblum said.
For the past several years, Chabad of the South Hills and South Hills Jewish Pittsburgh presented the festival at the Galleria of Mt. Lebanon.
Harry Funk / The Almanac
Festival goers, including one dressed as a dreidel, dance on Potomac Avenue in celebration.
Rosenblum explained a minor anti-Semitic incident in Dormont prompted borough officials to contact him about how to respond and “what they could do to help the Jewish community feel welcome as a vibrant part of the community.”
“That conversation took place just a few weeks before Chanukah, and the Borough of Dormont generously offered to host a mini-Chanukah event, along with purchasing this menorah and putting it prominently here in the center of Dormont,” Rosenblum said about the sizable nine-branched candelabrum near Potomac’s intersection with Belrose Avenue. “We had quite a nice turnout for such a quick event, and they made sure to tell me: ‘Next year, we want to host the primary Chanukah event.'”
Kate Abel, Dormont Council president, also spoke prior to the lighting of the first three candles of the menorah. The remaining candles are being lit through the final evening of Chanukah, Dec 10.
Harry Funk / The Almanac
Harry Funk / The Almanac
Mavis Louik takes a closer look as Paula Altschul reads “Sammy Spider’s Hannukah Colors.”
“Of course, 2018 brought a great number of challenges, particularly for those in the Jewish community,” Abel said. “But amid the troubles of the year, we have also been able to see the bright lights of our community shine through. Whether in Squirrel Hill, the city of Pittsburgh or the South Hills, we have all been able to see the outpouring of love and support for all of our neighbors, from all of our neighbors.”
Following the lighting came a treat for the kids: a “mega gelt drop” from atop a fire truck ladder. Gelt refers to chocolate coins that Jewish children traditionally receive for Chanukah, and those at the festival eagerly scooped up as many as they could.
Youngsters also had the opportunity to attend a Hannukah – the spelling varies – celebration Dec. 6 at Mt. Lebanon Public Library.
Paula Altschul, librarian at Temple Emanuel in Scott Township, read aloud the children’s book “Sammy Spider’s Hannukah.” Children had an opportunity to participate by displaying various colors of dreidels, and everyone repeated the observation each time it came up in the book: “Spiders don’t spin dreidels. They spin webs!”
Harry Funk / The Almanac
Harry Funk / The Almanac
Katiana Sigala shows her Star of David craft at Mt. Lebanon Public Library.
A craft activity was led by Kate Louik, South Hills ambassador for PJ Library in Pittsburgh, part of a program that partners with communities around the world to provide families raising Jewish children with free, high-quality children’s books, music and resources that foster deeper engagement with Jewish life.
Each child decorated a Star of David with colors to produce a stained glass effect and to make his or her own Chanukah card.
Most exciting to youngsters, of course, was the treat of donuts, which are emblematic of the origins of the holiday: When Judah the Maccabee recaptured the temple in Jerusalem from the pagan Seleucids, a small amount of oil somehow burned for eight days to extend the resulting celebration.
“It’s Chanukah,” Louik told the youngsters, “so we have to eat foods that are cooked in oil to remind us of the miracle.”
Harry Funk / The Almanac
Harry Funk / The Almanac
With Potomac Avenue illuminated by a floodlight, a youngster picks up chocolate coins during the festival’s “mega gelt drop.”