(JEWISH GROUP) Mt. Lebanon readies for first public Chanukah celebration
Bronze Hanukkah menorah with burning candles on wooden table. (BrAt_PiKaChU, courtesy of flickr.com)
The streets of Mt. Lebanon will glow a little more brightly this holiday season.
That’s because, for the first time, Mt. Lebanon’s holiday festivities will include a menorah lighting at Clearview Common on Washington Road.
The celebration is a victory for a group of Jewish community members who advocated last year at a commission meeting for public recognition of Chanukah. The charge was initially led by Chabad of the South Hills Rabbi Mendy Rosenblum, who has been trying for the last three years for permission from Mt. Lebanon for a public menorah and Chanukah parade, which includes a Christmas tree.
When attorney Bryan Neft first learned of Rosenblum’s struggles with the township he decided to get involved.
Mt. Lebanon’s refusal to include a menorah in its public acknowledgement of the holiday season came at a time when Neft felt the Jewish community had been through enough. He cited Oct. 7, the push for BDS resolutions in the city of Pittsburgh and attempts to have Allegheny County pass a ceasefire resolution as examples of what he considers attacks on the Jewish community.
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Neat! I used to live there!