Paris Police Order Toned Down Menorah Lighting
Following the heinous terror attacks in recent weeks, Paris police have informed local Chabad shluchim that this year, the Chanukah activities will have to be far less visible and many of the major lighting ceremonies will have to be canceled due to security fears.
From The International Business Times:
Paris police are reportedly discouraging Jews from lighting the menorah to mark Hanukkah this weekend, after a series of terror attacks last month killed and wounded hundreds. The warning comes as some Jewish leaders have expressed concern about anti-Semitic threats, after Islamic State group supporters attacked several locations — including a theater that held pro-Israel events — on Nov. 13.
Jewish organizations in Paris had vowed to hold public Hanukkah ceremonies, including a live concert, starting at sundown Sunday to honor the Jewish holiday. The Jewish outreach organization Chabad Lubavitch is sponsoring more than 60 celebrations and nightly public menorah lightings around Paris, including at the Eiffel Tower. American Jewish DJ Nachum Segal had scheduled a concert titled “Let There Be Light: The Concert of Jewish Unity,” at the Synagogue de la Victoire, or Grand Synagogue of Paris, next week. The show was organized “to celebrate the lives of those living in France, and to honor the Jewish communities,” according to a news release.
France has Europe’s largest population of Jews. Last year, more than 6,000 Parisians, dignitaries and visitors participated in The Eiffel Tower menorah lighting. The ceremony has been a tradition for 24 years.
Click here to continue reading at The International Business Times.
Sad.
This is exactly what the terrorists want. We can’t give inn to them like this.
We had the thanksgiving day parade, the Rockefeller event and I’m sure the end of year ball drop.
We should have the Menorah lighting too.
Let’s all pic is make Chanukah more visible this year with menorahs in windows, front yards, cars etc. all over the world.
Amused Observer
Nowhere in the article referenced does it state that the Paris Police are “ordering” any such thing.
Hassidout.org
We will not let the terrorists win!!!!!!
Paris will be holding every single public menorah lighting like in the past.
Go check out hassidout org to see for yourself
Friend
How terribly sad. I react with mixed emotions – appreciating that France is beefing up its security for the Jewish communities. On the other hand,
who can believe that today in the Western World, Jews are warned not bring the lights of the menorah into the world, lest G-d Forbid, it arouses the lion to come out of its lair.
Hashem Yerachem. We WANT AND NEED MOSHIACH NOW.
Happy Chanukah to the Jewish people all over the world and to the Jews of France, no insane enemy can every extinguish your Jewish lights. We are with you.
is Paris 2015 like 1940
why don’t the rabbonim paskin what to do. if its sakanas nefashos then you don’t do it. if its trying to appease others then you do it. I’m sure the Rebbe would not want his children/shluchim to get hurt. but a time can come when one must leave for security reasons as June 11 1940 (wiki) indicated.
The terrorists are "brilliant"
What they want, they may accomplish. If they succeed in getting the rest of the world fed-up enough, major players (some European countries, even the US) may fall to Fascism, CH”V. If that happens – we know very well how the Jews fared under such entites (6,000,000 of us).
I have to agree
For a second, forget about “letting the terrorists win.” They would win if there was a menorah lighting and CVS they bombed the whole place to hell and high water, killing who knows how many people.
It’s a matter of brains. Be smart.
Yes It sucks that the menorah lighting can’t be grandiose this year :(. But it prevents attacks. Or at least minimizes the risks.