be modest, a man in the street,” Katz says of the Jewish
thought at the time. “He was like, ‘You’re mixing it all
up; [be a] Jew in the street, be a man at home.’ ”
Th e 1974 menorah lighting in Philadelphia — and a 1975
lighting by Chabad Rabbi Chaim Drizin of the Bill Graham
Menorah at Union Square in San Francisco, a monumen-
tal 25-foot tall structure — followed Schneerson’s 1973
campaign to deliver mass-produced tin menorahs to Jews,
encouraging them to light candles.

Shemtov saw the menorah as a symbol that occupied
a liminal space between public and private, sitting near
the window of a home where it spread warmth inside,
while visible to viewers outside. A public lighting of the
menorah still occupied this similar space, he argued.

Far from just publicity, the public lighting extended the
spiritual message of Chanukah and fulfi lled the mitzvah
of pirsum hanes, the “publicizing” or “proclamation” of
the miracle of the day’s worth of oil that lasted for eight
in the traditional story of Chanukah.

“Th is started the whole activity, the eff ort and activity,
which now is spread through the world; the celebration,
the marking of Chanukah, is shared with the world
outside,” he says.

But not all Jews welcomed the public menorah light-
ings. In the late 1970s, leaders from the Reform move-
ment wrote to the Rebbe, objecting to the public
lighting. “Pushing this symbol in public spaces has far greater
implications for the Jewish community than just
Chanukah,” Gratz College President Zev Eleff said.

Some Jewish leaders were concerned that the public
display of a menorah was a violation of the separation
of church and state. Jews were particularly sensitive to
this issue, he said, because “where the church operates
as government, Jews do not always fare that well.”
Th e debate over the menorah’s role in church-state
separation culminated in the 1989 Supreme Court case
County of Allegheny v. American Civil Liberties Union,
in which the court considered the constitutionality of
the presence of a public nativity scene at the Allegheny
Courthouse and an 18-foot tall menorah outside the
City-County Building.

Th e court found that the nativity scene violated the
Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, as it
depicted explicitly religious content, while the menorah,
like a Christmas tree, was a symbol of a holiday that had
come to represent the winter holiday season and had
adopted a more secular meaning in the social milieu.

Th e image of Chabad rabbis lighting a menorah in
front of a crowd has since become iconic, with President
Jimmy Carter, followed by Presidents Ronald Reagan,
George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack
Obama, Donald Trump and Joe Biden, taking part in a
ceremonial lighting beginning in 1979. Embroiled in
managing the early days of the Iranian hostage crisis,
18 DECEMBER 15, 2022 | JEWISHEXPONENT.COM
Courtesy of the National Menorah on the Ellipse and the American Friends of Lubavitch (Chabad)
feature Chabad-Lubavitch rabbis light the National Menorah in 2021.

Carter made a rare emergence from the White House to
light the menorah’s shamash (or “helper” candle) on the
White House lawn.

‘MORE CRITICAL THAN EVER’
Th ough the practice of public menorah lighting has
grown over the years, Katz suggested that the signif-
icance of the menorah itself as a public symbol has
diminished. Its presence in media, popular culture
and the public eye has eroded some of its original
religious substance, she believes.

While lightings may not hold the same controversy
or social gravity as they did in the 1970s and ’80s,
Chabad leaders of today argue that the presence of
these public events is necessary in the face of both
continued assimilation and growing antisemitism.

“It’s very important not to pull back because of it.

We hold our ground and be bold, not to demonstrate
fear,” said Rabbi Shmuel Kaplan of the Lubavitch
Center in Baltimore.

But as much as rabbis are aware of the importance
of Jewish visibility in the face of antisemitic intimi-
dation, the purpose of public menorah lightings still
harkens back to their original goals.

“It’s more critical in this country than ever before,”
Kaplan emphasized. “Not because there’s coercion —
we don’t have the coercion anymore — but because of
the lack of identifi cation. We have a serious problem
with Jewish identity.”
While visible Jewishness can speak back against
antisemitism, a “robust semitism” is how to truly
combat antisemitism, Levi Shemtov said.

Th e lighting of the menorah, as a symbol for
Chanukah and an age-old tale of Jewish pride in the
face of bigotry and oppression has remained relevant
for Jews for thousands of years and in the public eye
for the past half-century. Th e ritual might just off er
some insight into how the next generation can fi nd
unwavering Jewish identity.

“It may not be a panacea,” Shemtov acknowledged.

“But it’s defi nitely a trigger and a good start for a very
positive [holiday] experience.” JE
srogelberg@midatlanticmedia.com