Cedar Falls celebrates Hanukkah with downtown menorah lighting
By MARIA KUIPER – Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, Iowa (TNS)
CEDAR FALLS — Candles shined their way through the fog during a celebration of Hanukkah in Cedar Falls Thursday.
A 10-foot menorah sat at the River Place Plaza in a lighting ceremony marking the second night of the Jewish holiday. The celebration was led by Rabbi Aron Schimmel from the Chabad of Northeast Iowa in Postville.
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Rabbi Aron Schimmel, of Chabad of Northeast Iowa, led a menorah-lighting ceremony on Thursday in downtown Cedar Falls.
He recited the more than 2,000-year-old story of Hanukkah, when Jews rededicated the Holy Temple after reclaiming it from the Greeks. When they went to light the menorah, only a small jar of oil was found and was expected to last a night. Instead, it lasted for eight. This year, the eight-day long holiday goes from Dec. 25 to Jan. 2.
“Although (this) happened more than 2,000 years ago, it has an eternal, an everlasting message for all mankind,” Schimmel said. “Whenever we can, if we face challenges or face dark energies, we should not be afraid. We should, you know, not run away. On the contrary, we should go out and light and do our part.”
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Cedar Falls Mayor Danny Laudick speaks at a menorah-lighting event on the second day of Hanukkah on Thursday.
Cedar Falls Mayor Danny Laudick also spoke at the event. Although not Jewish, he said the message of the holiday can be applied to anyone, especially in a world with “everything happening.”
“No matter how strong, no matter if it’s one or many, it’s that brightness and that light that is our responsibility in this world to, no matter what’s happening around us, no matter what may be going on, to be able to be a light in the world, to our neighbors, to those around us, to our community (and) to our world,” he said.
Laudick lit the servant candle, the middle candle used to light the other eight. Another person of Jewish faith from the crowd lit the other two candles.
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A 10-foot-tall menorah was lit at the River Place Plaza in Cedar Falls on Thursday.
Although Schimmel and others from his synagogue led the lighting, the Cedar Valley has its own small Jewish population. The Sons of Jacob Synagogue is located at 715 Progress Ave. The congregation was previously located at 411 E. Mitchell Ave. until 2023.
Laudick said although the area, and most of the U.S., is predominantly Christian, it is important to learn about other cultures and communities, especially with the recent war in Gaza.
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Laudick
“We forget about the Jews in our community,” he said. “I think it’s easy to think of it as far away, ‘that thing happening overseas,’ and forget that we have people living in our community that are affected by this.”
Dawn Mollenkopf, a Cedar Falls resident who goes to the local temple, said she loved the community celebrating and supporting different backgrounds of people.
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Rabbi Aron Schimmel and Cedar Falls Mayor Danny Laudick took part in a menorah-lighting ceremony on Thursday.
“I think it’s important to, you know, make it available for people,” she said. “If they get to experience it, it’s easier to connect.”
Schimmel, along with another Postville-based rabbi, Rabbi Gavriel Levin, stressed the importance for Jewish people to show their pride.
“It’s not a healthy reaction to huddle away and hide,” Levin said. “Come out proud, standing (and) shining light. Shining goodness and kindness and giving people support.”
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Cedar Falls Mayor Danny Laudick lights the servant candle on a menorah for Hanukkah on Thursday.
Holiday lights illuminate the world
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