Jewish families throughout the Pasadena area are encouraged to come to the Paseo Colorado on Thursday, December 2, and together watch a professional ice carver create a beautiful menorah out of ice, and then participate in lighting the menorah just made.
The event is planned to mark the fifth night of Hanukkah, the Jewish holiday known as the “Festival of Lights.” It is called “The Menorah of Fire and Ice at the Paseo” and will run from 5 to 6:30 p.m.
Hanukkah, also known as the Festival of Lights, commemorates the recovery of Jerusalem and the subsequent rededication of the Second Temple at the beginning of the Maccabean revolt against the Seleucid Empire in the second century BC.
“The message of Hanukkah is a little bit of light dispels a tremendous amount of darkness,” Rabbi Chaim Hanoka, Executive Director of Chabad of Pasadena, said. “Every one of us needs to add an act of goodness and kindness, even on a small level, and cumulatively, it will have a tremendous impact and make this world a better place to live in.”
Rabbi Hanoka said lighting the menorah provides the opportunity to remember the importance of unity and hope in the midst of the “horrible tragedies” which have happened recently, including the scourge of COVID-19, which have affected many families in Pasadena.
The significance of Hanukkah goes back thousands of years ago when Greek Assyrians were trying to destroy the temple in Jerusalem. The Assyrians also defiled all of the jugs that contained pure olive oil, sealed by the high priest to make them usable throughout the life of the golden menorah in the temple. The Assyrians opened up all the seals so the Jews wouldn’t have any oil to light their menorah with.
When the Jews came back, drove the Assyrians away and recovered the temple, they found just one cruse of oil that was still sealed, which normally would last for one day. But this sole jug of oil lasted for eight days, thus the miracle of the one-day supply lasting eight days as described in the Talmud.
Apart from the grand ice Menorah on Thursday, Chabad of Pasadena has also organized multiple activities for children, live music, and food fit for the occasion.
“We’re going to have jelly donuts individually packaged so they’re COVID-friendly, and just basically a warm and happy time for everybody to enjoy the Hanukkah spirit at the mall,” Rabbi Hanoka added. “We’ve done this for quite a few years and we want to thank the Paseo for helping put this together and spreading the Hanukkah joy in the city of Pasadena and surrounding areas.”
The event, Rabbi Hanoka continued, will provide a “very good, fun, family oriented Hanukkah experience” at the Paseo, as will other events commemorating the Hanukkah festival, which is observed for for eight nights and days, starting on the 25th day of Kislev in the Jewis calendar, corresponding to about late November up to late December in the Gregorian calendar.
To learn more about Thursday’s “Menorah of Fire and Ice,” visit www.chabadpasadena.com/templates/articlecco_cdo/aid/5317334/jewish/Chanukah-Paseo.htm.
