Jewish community members lit the electric menorah in Flossmoor Park in Flossmoor every night of Hanukkah, which started Dec. 14. An audience of village officials and about a dozen other community members watched them.
The menorah lighters recited traditional Hebrew blessings and wished the audience a Happy Hanukkah. Some electric candles were turned on when a community member flipped the switch at the base of the candle. Others lit up when a community member tapped them with another candle.
Ken Finkelstein and his wife, Whitney Finkelstein, lit the menorah on Dec. 18, the fifth night of Hanukkah. Jacob Schoeneman lit the Menorah with his 7-year-old daughter, Holly Schoeneman, on Dec. 19, the sixth night.
Village Engagement Manager Stephanie Wright and Flossmoor Police Sgt. David Levi stood in the audience on Dec. 18. Flossmoor Mayor Michelle Nelson attended the event on Dec. 19.
Hanukkah music played on the speaker on Dec. 18. Wright said the playlist was compiled by Flossmoor resident Gidon Isaacs, a rabbi at Temple Beit Shalom in Munster, Indiana.
Ken said he was proud to express his Jewish faith publicly in Flossmoor. Whitney concurred, adding that she believed antisemitism is on the rise in the United States and around the world.
“More than ever, I think that Jews have to stand firm, stand tall, stand proud and celebrate who we are,” Whitney said.
“From a truly religious standpoint, it’s a relatively minor holiday,” Ken said of Hanukkah, comparing it to Passover, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. “But obviously in America, it’s taken on more significance as kind of a Jewish Christmas.”
Ken and Whitney were celebrating Hanukkah with their children and grandchildren after the Flossmoor Park event, they said.
Hanukkah is about “praying for miracles to happen and recognizing them when they do,” Jacob said, adding that he’s happy his daughter could help him light the Flossmoor Park menorah.
“Having lived in Flossmoor for pretty much my entire life, it feels really nice to be part of a community where this sort of thing is celebrated – multiple different religious faiths,” Jacob said, pointing to the menorah, the Christmas tree and the Kwanzaa kinara in Flossmoor Park.
“Not everybody here is Jewish, which is part of the fun of it,” said Nelson, who is Catholic.
Nelson said the mass shooting in Sydney, Australia, on the first day of Hanukkah, where a gunman killed 15 people outside a Jewish temple, was a tragedy. She said Flossmoor community members support their neighbors, regardless of what religion they practice or don’t practice.
“We all come to Flossmoor with our own backgrounds and practices,” Nelson said. “When we can find ways to celebrate them together and also turn them into lessons that we can share with each other, that makes us a more unified and stronger community.”
