Township Lights Menorah to Celebrate Start of Hanukkah

West Orange residents, administrators and members of the Jewish community gathered together on the lawn of Town Hall for the annual lighting of the township menorah on Dec. 3.

The lighting of the menorah symbolizes the start of the Hanukkah season, which began Nov 28.

Prominent members of the Jewish community were in attendance to celebrate including Rabbi Mendy Kasowitz, who was also joined by his wife Altie and their children, Mark Levenson, Chairman of the New Jersey Israel Commission and Rabbi Boruch Klar and his wife Devorah.

Rabbi Klar is the designer of the menorah and has them shipped to various places all over the world, according to Rabbi Kasowitz.

Levenson had the honor of lighting the menorah and joined Rabbi Kasowitz and the rest of the attendees in song afterwards.

Mayor Robert Parisi was in attendance, along with multiple council members, and thanked the rabbis for making the ceremony possible in the township.

"On behalf of the the township, we thank you for reaching out to do this every year," Parisi said at the event.

Devorah Klar stated in an interview with the Patch at the event that the lighting of the menorah symbolizes what the Jewish community stands for.

"The whole point of lighting the menorah is to represent light and good," Klar said at the event. "Darkness usually represents evil and we create this light that overpowers that and it represents what we stand for."