JACKSON – There were smiles of joy and celebration in the winter air as attendees came together once again to observe the lighting of the Menorah during the annual township Menorah Lighting ceremony.
The outdoor event held on December 20 on the grounds of the municipal building was hosted by Rabbi Shmuel Naparstek and sponsored by Bat Shalom Hadassah, Jackson Chabad, Westlake Yiddish Club, Shalom Club of Winding Ways and South Knolls and Metedeconk.
Rabbi Naparstek said, “Hanukkah is a festival of lights. It is a time we gather around the Menorah. We light the candles and the message that we hear from these candles is that you can be in a dark room, in a dark corner of the room and if you light one candle, that candle will bring light and it will spread.
“When you light another candle from that candle you will have more light. The great thing about lighting a candle is that you can share the light with someone else and nothing is diminished from your candle,” the Rabbi added.
Rabbi Naparstek said, “lighting the Menorah on Hanukkah is a message of light, unity and it is a commemoration of our history going back thousands of years. We not only remember the past but we listen to the message of the Menorah for the future. We are here today in 2022 in Jackson New Jersey still lighting the Menorah that is a testament to strength of the light and the strength of being able to pass on the torch from generation to generation.
“We live in a country and a town that not only allows us to practice our faith but it encourages us and helps us and we are very grateful for that, Rabbi Naparstek added.
He recalled how the ceremony first started in Jackson 18 years ago when Honey Greenberg and Linda Selznick of Bat Shalom Hadassah joined with Chabad’s Rabbi Carlebach to begin a new tradition: a Menorah lighting in back of Jackson’s municipal complex building.
Chabad supplied the Menorah while the chapter and various local Yiddish cultural clubs provided refreshments.
Three years ago, the Menorah lighting occurred on December 23 because Hanukkah came late on the secular calendar, although it always starts on 25 Kislev in the Hebrew calendar. This year the holiday started on December 18.
While there was concern in 2019 that the cold and possible snow might interfere with the ceremony attendees instead found themselves with weather in the balmy upper 40s as Rabbi Carlebach once again lit the Menorah in front of a large group of guests.
That year sadly marked the first time that neither of the two founders of the event (Honey and Linda) were present. Linda had moved away and Honey, having moved because of her health, had died the previous week.
Ellen Keller, the president of Bat Shalom Hadassah, dedicated the Menorah lighting in Greenberg’s memory and in honor of Selznick. Shelley Flaherty facilitated the event that year.
Among those present were Jackson Mayor Michael Reina, Council President Martin Flemming, Councilmen Nino Borrelli and Steven Chisholm, 12th District Assemblyman and former Jackson Councilman Alex Sauickie, Councilman-elect Scott Sargent and Township Business Administrator Terence Wall.
As in years past, those present enjoyed jelly donuts and apple juice. Naperstek led the group in song and also got the crowd to clap in joy as he briefly danced with one of his children.
“This has really been a collaborative event with all members of the community coming together,” Rabbi Naparstek said.
Rabbi David Amar, the spiritual leader of Congregation Ahavat Olam, Howell Township, also spoke, thanking all those responsible for putting together the event all these years. “We always celebrate the miracle of Hanukkah and the miracle is great. The miracle of the oil and winning the war over the Syrian Greeks and the eight days of Hanukkah that commemorate the miracles – but one thing we need to remember is that everyone looked for the oil. It was a community effort and when the people came to clean and clear the temple it was everyone – the whole entire community – came around to purify the temple to make it ready to light the Menorah.
“Everyone comes together to share a light,” Rabbi Amar added.
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