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Photo: Efrat Ashel
Hanukkah menorah - banned from municipality displays
Photo: Efrat Ashel
Christmas trees - ruled as 'secular symbols'
Photo: AP

Senator joins banned menorah lighting

Wayne Allard's participation considered a huge slap in face to city council which is allowing a Christmas tree display but not a menorah

The Ft. Collins city council in Colorado has voted against inclusion of Hanukkah menorahs in municipality holiday displays throughout the city but will include Christmas trees as they are considered a secular symbol. The council has decided to only incorporate non-denominational décor for the holiday festivities.

 

Although the US Supreme Court has ruled the Hanukkah menorah can be used as a secular object in such settings, Chabad's unofficial website Shturem reported that the city council insists that the menorah is a religious symbol.

 

Ft. Collins Downtown Development Authority (DDA) Executive Director Chip Steiner told the city's Chabad emissary, Rabbi Yerachmiel Gorelick, that "It's an honest, simple and difficult decision they've reached. It's not meant to be exclusive".

 

Senator Allard jumps in

In a move some have considered as a “slap in the face" to the city council, Republican Senator Wayne Allard of Colorado announced on Monday that he will participate in the lighting of the Hanukkah menorah organized by Chabad.

 

Allard will join Mayor Doug Hutchinson and various Jewish leaders in the ceremony, which will be held on Dec. 21st, on the seventh day of Hanukkah whose eight-day duration begins on the night of Dec. 15th.

 

A spokesman for Sen. Allard said that the senator is not taking a stand against the city's policies but Rabbi Gorelik told Shturem in an interview that Allard's participation sends a strong message to Fort Collins' officials that they are failing to acknowledge the diversity of faith in the city.

 

"We've been trying to bring recognition that there are people who celebrate the holiday season a different

way," Gorelik said. "And the city has not been helping us do that." Gorelik has been permitted to light the menorah in Old Town Ft. Collins on Dec. 21 and then relocate it to a local pub.

 

"If Hanukkah is good enough for the senator, then it should be good enough for the city council," concluded Rabbi Gorelik.

 


פרסום ראשון: 12.12.06, 18:41
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