Douglas Crowl - The Loveland Connection

Rabbi Yerachmiel Gorelik speaks to the assembled crowd in 2007. Gorelik will host a menorah lighting ceremony at 4 p.m. Dec. 21 in Loveland. The event may be Loveland’s first public menorah ceremony. (Loveland Connection library)

LOVELAND, CO — The city of Loveland might be making holiday history this year.

Rabbi Yerachmiel Gorelik will host possibly Loveland’s first public menorah lighting ceremony, and he’s praising the city’s openness to the event.

Menorah Lighting Ceremony Planned in Loveland

Douglas Crowl – The Loveland Connection

Rabbi Yerachmiel Gorelik speaks to the assembled crowd in 2007. Gorelik will host a menorah lighting ceremony at 4 p.m. Dec. 21 in Loveland. The event may be Loveland’s first public menorah ceremony. (Loveland Connection library)

LOVELAND, CO — The city of Loveland might be making holiday history this year.

Rabbi Yerachmiel Gorelik will host possibly Loveland’s first public menorah lighting ceremony, and he’s praising the city’s openness to the event.

“I expected some resistance; you can’t blame me for being a little apprehensive,” Gorelik said, who’s from the Chabad Jewish Center of Northern Colorado.

Gorelik gained national attention in Fort Collins when his congregation requested placing a menorah on city property to mark Hanukkah, sparking a city-wide debate about religious symbols during the holiday season.

He said it took four years to plan a public ceremony in Fort Collins.

In Loveland, Gorelik said he contacted City Manager Don Williams and Mayor Gene Pielin and both were open to the lighting ceremony.

Gorelik also contacted Greeley city leaders who gave him a similar speedy reception.

“In Greeley and Loveland, it was just a matter of hours,“ Gorelik said. ”For us, it’s been delightful and a breath of fresh air.”

Loveland’s ceremony begins at 4 p.m. Dec. 21 at Peters Park in front of the Loveland Museum/Gallery and the city’s holiday tree.

Williams said he viewed Gorelik’s menorah ceremony like any other request by a group to use city property.

However, he pointed out that the menorah is not being left at the park, unlike the Fort Collins issue.

Much of the debate in Fort Collins revolved around leaving the menorah on city property. Currently, Fort Collins officials have agreed on a multi-cultural display at the city museum called “Fort Collins Winter Traditions: Celebrations of Light.”

Loveland has a “holiday tree” and is attempting to keep holiday symbols on city property secular.

“There still will be no permanent religious display of any kind on city property,” Williams said.

Pielin, who will attend the menorah lighting ceremony as a special guest, acknowledged that municipalities walk a tightrope with religious symbol rules during the holiday season.

“It’s not that the United States is not a religious country, it is,” Pielin said. “What we don’t do is show favoritism over one religion or another.”