HYDE PARK — A giant menorah has returned to Kimbark Plaza in the heart of Hyde Park after being absent for a year.
Rabbi Yossi Brackman, director of the Rohr Chabad Center, said a prayer Tuesday evening before lighting the candles for the fourth day of Hanukkah.
“The word Hanukkah means to dedicate oneself and we dedicate ourselves to light, which means the goodness in the world,” Brackman said a small gathering of people eating fried donuts while watching the menorah being lit.
Brackman said Hyde Park’s Jewish community is small compared to places like Skokie, but is significant. He said he worked with the Kimbark Plaza, 1200 E. 53rd St., to install the menorah two years ago and is happy to be bringing it back.
Charles Newsome, board president of the cooperative of business owners that own the plaza, said the reaction to the menorah has been really positive and he’s glad to have it back.
Brackman said they installed the menorah last year at the Chabad Center, 5700 S. Woodlawn Ave., but it went unnoticed so close to campus while the students and faculty are away on break.
He said he’s hoping the menorah in the plaza becomes and annual tradition and the Chabad Center is looking forward to coming back next year with more fried Hanukkah food and music from the students of Akiba-Schechter Jewish Day School.
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