Vestavia Hills officials participate in a menorah lighting to celebrate Hannukah with the Chabad of Alabama organization in 2021.
The city of Vestavia Hills and Chabad of Alabama, a Jewish outreach organization based in Mountain Brook, are inviting the public to a menorah lighting at Vestavia Hills City Hall on Dec. 30 to celebrate Hannukah.
The event is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. and is to include music, kids’ activities, a gelt drop, latkes, doughnuts and more. A car menorah parade will precede the menorah lighting, starting at Chabad of Alabama at 5 p.m. and ending at Vestavia Hills City Hall in time for the lighting.
Hannukah, also known as the Festival of Lights, begins this year on the evening of Wednesday, Dec. 25 and concludes the evening of Thursday, Jan. 2. It recalls the victory of a militarily weak but spiritually strong Jewish people who defeated the Syrian-Greeks who had overrun ancient Israel and sought to impose restrictions on the Jewish way of life and practice.
The Syrian-Greeks desecrated and defiled the Holy Temple and the oil prepared for the lighting of the menorah – part of the daily service. Upon defeating their enemies and recapturing the Temple, only one jar of undefiled oil was found, enough to burn for one day, but it lasted — Jews say miraculously — for eight days. In commemoration, Jews celebrate Hanukkah for eight days by lighting an eight-branched candelabrum known as a menorah, adding another candle each night.
“Today, the holiday carries a universal message of the triumph of freedom over oppression, of spirit over matter, of light over darkness,” according to a statement issued by Chabad of Alabama.
This will be the sixth annual menorah lighting for Chabad of Alabama in Vestavia Hills, Rabbi Levi Weinbaum said. The group also has multiple menorah lightings planned this year in the Birmingham area.
The first one is Thursday, Dec. 19, outside Jeni’s in Mountain Brook Village at 5 p.m. Then on Thursday, Dec. 26, more menorah lightings will be held at the Hoover Public Library from 2 to 4 p.m. and in front of The Trak Shak in Homewood at 5:30 p.m.
A “grand menorah lighting” is scheduled at the Saks Plaza in The Summit shopping center in Birmingham at 4:15 p.m. on Dec. 29.
“As the Festival of Lights approaches, we are filled with gratitude and joy for the many ways the season is being embraced throughout our community,” a statement from Chabad of Alabama said.“It’s a challenging time for the Jewish people, with war still raging in Israel, and with American Jews facing a major rise in antisemitism,” the statement said. “While in the past, prior to Oct. 7, many Jews’ response to frightening developments of antisemitism may have been to hide their Jewishness, the post-Oct. 7 Jewish communal response has bucked all precedents. Jews are choosing instead to celebrate their identity this Chanukah with more confidence and resolve.”Weinbaum said celebrating Hannukah is a vital part of Jewish life. It has become a potent point of light and Jewish pride and confidence for American Jews in the fight against darkness and antisemitism. but it also represents key American values, namely those of liberty and independence, he said.
“The holiday of Chanukah underscores the fact that American culture has been enriched by the thriving ethnic cultures which contribute very much, each in its own way, to communal life, both materially and spiritually,” Weinbaum said in a written statement.
