LYNNWOOD—Over two hundred residents attended the 13th annual Giant Menorah Lighting & Celebration, hosted by Chabad Jewish Center of Snohomish County in partnership with Sound Transit and the city of Lynnwood. As dusk began on Sunday, December 30, Rabbi Berel Paltiel lit candles commemorating the fifth day a single day’s supply of oil lasted while Jewish freedom fighters rededicated Jerusalem’s Holy Temple in 139 BCE.
“Being a Jew today has been a very difficult thing,” Rabbi Paltiel said. “The past year has been very difficult for the Jewish Community. Not since the Holocaust as the international Jewish community felt such hatred, experienced such barbarity, gone through such a difficult time. There is real hurt…the wounds are raw, and they are still unhealed.
“In response to that, tonight we gather to light the Menorah, we gather to spread light. We do it the way we have been doing it for the last 2,100 years through good times and the worse of times… We never stop praying for a better day, we never stop illuminating the world with the light of goodness.”
The event featured live music by the Seattle based Klez Katz Klezmer band and guests enjoyed Chanukah (also called Hanukkah) sufganiyots (jelly doughnuts), face painting, balloon twisting, and personal Menorah kits. Special this year, a ladder truck from South County Fire created a “Gelt Drop,” showering chocolate coins from above for those young and young at heart to catch.
Both Mayor Christine Frizzell and Police Chief Cole Langdon spoke during Sunday’s event. Also attending Sunday’s event were Lynnwood City Council President George Hurst; Lynnwood Councilmen Nick Coelho, David Parshall, and Joshua Binda; and Edmonds Councilman Wil Chen. Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers was unable to attend due to the passing, earlier that day, of his four-legged bestfriend of 20 years.
“This is what community is about, it is about sharing our traditions, it is about sharing our culture, it is about sharing and looking one another in the face and celebrating what makes us a community,” Mayor Frizzell opened. “Thank you, rabbi, for bringing this to an even larger audience. Thank you for being the light in our community and may each one of us shine bright in making a positive impact in our community in 2025.”
Superior Court Judge Richard Okrent shared that Hanukkah represents the struggle to free oneself from oppression.
“Isn’t it great that we are lighting the lights of Hanukkah at the light rail,” Judge Okrent said to applauds.
He continued, “Hanukkah represents the struggle that everyone has, to free ourselves from oppression. What is more important than to show that in a public venue? And because we are free and because we are not afraid, we party.”
October 7, 2023, forever changed both Israelis and those of the Jewish faith forever. On that ill-fated day, Hamas, a terrorist organization that was voted into power by the Palestinian people of the Palestinian territories in 2006, led a series of coordinated attacks against Israel — on a Sabbath day and date of many Jewish holidays — killing over 1,000 Jewish civilians and approximately 370 Israeli soldiers.
Approximately 3,000 Palestinian militants infiltrated Israel from Gaza using trucks, powered paragliders, bulldozers, and speedboats, opening fire on Israeli civilians and setting homes on fire. Additionally, Hamas took 251 Israeli hostages, 42 of which were children. Currently, 62 hostages are still being held by Hamas and/or its supporters.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on October 8, 2023, officially received a declaration of war against Gaza by the military political cabinet invoking “Clause 40 Aleph” of the Basic Government Law.
As of October 6, 2024, at least 41,870 Palestinians have been reported killed, with an additional 97,166 wounded, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, Barron’s reports.
President-elect Donald J Trump on December 2 called on Hamas to release all hostages prior to when he takes office on January 20, 2025, warning “there will be hell to pay” if they failed to meet his demand.
“Please let this TRUTH serve to represent that if the hostages are not released prior to January 20, 2025, the date that I proudly assume Office as President of the United States, there will be ALL HELL TO PAY in the Middle East, and for those in charge who perpetrated these atrocities against Humanity,” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a cabinet meeting the following day said that President-elect Trump was in the “right place” when it comes to his warning of there being “hell to pay” if Hamas doesn’t release their remaining hostages, according to Reuters.
This year’s celebration carries added significance as it marks 50 years since the first public menorah in the US which was lit at the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia in 1974.
The Menorah lighting is part of the worldwide Hanukkah campaign, an initiative launched by the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory, in 1973. The campaign highlights and encourages the central theme of the holiday — publicizing the story of the Hanukkah miracle.
Today, public menorahs and Hanukkah displays have become a staple of Jewish cultural and American public life, forever altering the American practice and perception of the festival.
Lynnwood’s menorah was just one of more than 15,000 large public menorahs sponsored by Chabad in more than 100 countries around the world, including in front of landmarks such as the White House and the Eiffel Tower, helping children and adults of all walks of life discover and enjoy the holiday message.
To conclude 2024, Rabbi Paltiel reminded everyone to celebrate light and to dispel the darkness and tragedies of the world saying, “where light is, darkness cannot exist.”
“It is true that the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing,” Rabbi Paltiel said. “That is why it is important for goodness, truth, love and light not to remain silent.”
Chabad Jewish Center of Snohomish County is located at 6121 176th Street SW in Lynnwood. To learn more about the Jewish faith, visit https://www.snohaimish.com/.
Author: Mario Lotmore
