Campus Life

Menorah lighting to be held Dec. 22 in downtown State College

Lights on the Menorah were lit during a previous year's celebration. Credit: Cameron Hart / Penn StateCreative Commons

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — To mark the beginning of Hanukkah, the public is invited to this year's Grand Menorah Lighting, hosted by Chabad of Penn State, from 5 to 7 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 22, at the State College Municipal Building, located at 243 S. Allen St. in State College. 

Chabad of Penn State has been hosting the public menorah celebration in State College for 18 years, but weeks after the horrific anti-Semitic shooting in Jersey City, New Jersey, organizers are expecting the largest turnout ever to take a stand against hate in a show of Jewish pride and unity.

“Hanukkah is the celebration of light over darkness,” said Rabbi Nosson Meretsky, who directs Chabad of Penn State. “The darkness that we, as a nation, have been experiencing must be fought with light and goodness, and we are putting together our biggest program ever to show that we will not be intimidated by those who wish to scare us.”

The event will begin at 5 p.m., with performances by M Twirling Team, an award-winning baton twirling team, and programs for children, including doughnut decorating and arts and crafts. The highlight — the lighting of the menorah — will follow with State College Interim Mayor Ron Filippelli welcoming the crowd.

Wendy Share is a resident in the community, who is planning to attend the public celebration for the first time despite her initial discomfort with expressing her Jewish identity so publicly and openly.

“They want us to be afraid—to fear proudly proclaiming our Jewish identity,” Share said. “I usually just light the menorah at home, but with all the anti-Semitism we are witnessing around us, I’m also going to join the public menorah lighting because I think this is the most effective thing we can do to fight evil. We need to be taking it head on.”

Since its inauguration in 2001, the 9-foot-tall menorah has become an iconic staple of the State College holiday scene, with the eight-day festival drawing crowds every night to celebrate with dignitaries, artists and members of the community's wider population.

Chabad of State College offers Jewish education, outreach and social-service programming for families and individuals of all ages, backgrounds and affiliations. For more information, call 814-863-4929, email rabbi@psu.edu, or visit www.chabadstatecollege.com.  

Last Updated September 3, 2020