Hundreds of Irish Jews Light Menorah at Dublin’s Herzog Park

by Mendel Scheiner – chabad.org

Hundreds gathered in Dublin’s Herzog Park on the second night of Chanukah, Dec. 15, to watch Rabbi Zalman Lent kindle a large public menorah, lighting up the winter night in a defiant show of Jewish pride.

The cross-communal event, put on in conjunction with Chabad-Lubavitch of Ireland, directed by Lent and his wife, Rifky, came weeks after Dublin City Council voted to strip the park of its historic name—a decision that sparked international outcry and became a flashpoint for Ireland’s Jewish community.

The park honors Chaim Herzog, a devoted son of Ireland who became the sixth president of Israel. Born in Belfast in 1918, Herzog moved to Dublin nine months later when his father, Rabbi Yitzchak Isaac Herzog, was appointed Chief Rabbi of Ireland. After serving in that position for over a decade, the elder Herzog was appointed Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi of British Mandatory Palestine, later becoming the first Chief Rabbi of Israel.

Ireland has in recent years emerged as one of Europe’s most vocally anti-Israel countries.

“There’s a very fine line between condemning Israel and hate for Jews, and we’ve long crossed that threshold,” Lent says. “The Jewish community of Ireland is feeling the impact.”

Which is why so many felt it was important to step out in force this Chanukah. Some 350 people gathered at Herzog Park on the second night of Chanukah to light the menorah, celebrating without incident.

“It Really Woke People Up”

If there were distinct signs of antisemitism before 2023, it was the terror attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, that opened the floodgates of Irish Jew-hate:

In the time since, Chabad’s restaurant, Deli 613—the only kosher store and deli in Ireland—has been boycotted. Jewish students have taken to hiding signs of their faith, tucking away their Chai necklaces and the like and taking down mezuzahs. One student who attends Chabad was attacked at a bar, another verbally abused on a bus. A mother recently thanked Rabbi Lent for looking after her daughter, saying that when she is in college, she “isn’t Jewish,” but when she walks through Chabad’’s doors on Friday night, she “becomes Jewish again.”

“We deal with a lot of students and young professionals here,” explains the rabbi. “Youth get hit quite hard. They hide their identities.”

The vote to remove Herzog’s name from the park was therefore taken particularly hard. Not only was there antisemitism on the street to contend with, but the city of Dublin itself was now going to condone and reward it.

“It really woke people up,” says Lent. “People have been quiet about the anti-Israel rhetoric, but this feels antisemitic. Trying to cancel an icon of Irish Jewish history—it really stung.”

Chaim Herzog was fluent in Gaelic (Irish) and shaped by the newly-independent nation. He fought in World War II and then in Israel’s War of Independence, entering the public sphere in the early 1970s. Between 1975-’78 Herzog represented Israel as its ambassador to the United Nations. Elected to the Knesset in 1981, two years later he became Israel’s sixth President.

Throughout his life, Herzog—like his father before him—maintained a warm relationship with the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory, visiting him in Chabad World Headquarters at 770 Eastern Parkway. Indeed, at the Rebbe’s urging, in the winter of 1976 the then-Israeli ambassador to the UN submitted the contract in which Ephron sold the Cave of Machpelah in Hebron to Abraham as delineated in the Torah to the UN. “For the first time in history,” the JTA reported, “an agreement made almost 4,000 years ago and recorded in the Bible, has been issued as a United Nations document … .”

In 1985 Herzog became the first Israeli president to visit Ireland, crowds lining the streets of Dublin to welcome the Irish-born head of state. A decade later, as Jerusalem marked its 3,000th anniversary, Ireland celebrated by renaming a small park in the Rathgar suburb of Dublin in honor of Herzog.

The park is a small one—“like a postage stamp” the rabbi says—with a playground, dog run and soccer field, but that didn’t stop local antisemites from taking notice. In 2024, an extremist Irish anti-Israel group began campaigning to remove the park’s name, recently proposing alternatives including Gaza Park or Palestine Park. Soon thereafter, Dublin City Council voted to remove Herzog’s name.

The decision triggered international condemnation. Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin called for the proposal to be “withdrawn in its entirety,” warning it would erase the Jewish community’s “distinctive and rich contribution to Irish life.” Chaim Herzog’s son, Isaac Herzog, the current president of Israel, called the effort “shameful and disgraceful.” Other figures, such as U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham and Mike Huckabee, U.S. ambassador to Israel, likewise condemned the proposal.

Dublin City Council backed down, claiming it needed to review protocols.

A Community Undeterred

Following the controversy, community members suggested holding Chabad of Ireland’s annual menorah lighting at the park. “We thought it was a great idea,” says Rabbi Lent. Word spread and more and more people contacted Chabad, saying they wanted to come out for the special menorah-lighting. Dr. Alexandra Herzog, Chaim’s granddaughter, even flew in to Ireland for the event.

Irish Minister of Justice Jim O’Callahan joined, speaking about the value of the Jewish community to Ireland and pledging the Irish government’s support to protect its Jewish community. “He gave a very strong and heartfelt speech,” says Rabbi Lent.

Many non-Jewish locals attended as well, some approaching Rabbi Lent with tears in their eyes, showing their support for the Jewish community and saying how upsetting much of the anti-Israel and antisemitic rhetoric and actions have been for them.

Rabbi Lent says there is a disconnect between the headlines and the reality on the ground. “Ireland is known as the land of a thousand welcomes. The Irish people are wonderful, and we have many non-Jewish supporters.”

The Chanukah menorah lighting at Herzog Park, says Rabbi Lent, was an important step for the community. “We gathered in a place that highlights the challenges our community has been facing for two years, at a time when many people are feeling discouraged and down,” he observes. “Just as we were able to light the candles in the dark, we know that good will ultimately prevail.”

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