Gathering ’round the Menorah

Clark County, WA — The lighting of a 9-foot-tall menorah in Esther Short Park on Sunday was a simple and intimate affair.

About 75 people braved the cold weather and gathered for the lighting of the menorah, which is used by Jews in rites during the eight-day festival of Hanukkah.

No one mentioned last week’s menorah-related uproar at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport during the event, but another prominent Jewish news story was brought up.

Both Rabbi Shmulik Greenberg of the Chabad Jewish Center of Clark County and Vancouver Mayor Royce Pollard denounced the Holocaust summit in Tehran, Iran, last week.

The conference, held by Holocaust deniers, was condemned by European leaders, the Vatican and the White House.

“This could be a time when we return to the dark ages,” Greenberg said of the summit.

“But we must have faith in God,” he said.

Darkness can only be fought with light, Greenberg said just before he and Pollard lit the menorah’s candles.

“I want to apologize to you for the absurdity of the world,” Pollard told the crowd.

Summit participants, which included U.S. citizens, “should not be let back into our country,” Pollard said.

All the evil of the world can’t be solved, but we can all help, he said to a crowd that started out small and quickly grew.

While the Chabad Jewish Center of Clark County placed a menorah in the park last year, it did not have a formal ceremony, Greenberg said.

The menorah represents religious freedom, and that is something everyone in American has, he said.

No one has to gather in secrecy to practice their religion in this country, Pollard added.

The ceremony and the group that attended it speaks to the diversity of the community, he added.

The comments were brief but the message was clear, and those in attendance seemed to approve.

They nodded their heads and prayed as both men spoke.

“The mayor was very eloquent,” one man said.

Did you know?

* The summit “Review of the Holocaust: Global Vision” was organized by Iran’s Foreign Ministry. Iranian leaders said the conference displayed the country’s commitment to intellectual freedom, in contrast to some European nations that have jailed Holocaust deniers.

* Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has frequently challenged the widely held history of the Holocaust.

* More than 60 people attended the conference, including former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke.