The greater Jewish Central Massachusetts community joined together at Polar Park for the eighth night of Chanukah, December 5, to celebrate an evening of festivities and togetherness.

“The success of last night’s event is a credit to the fact that many of our Jewish organizations joined together as one to make it happen,” Rabbi Moshe Liberow of the Torah Center in Worcester said. “A community thrives when there is unity, and unity was truly felt in the glow of that Menorah – I am certain it will continue to shine and that we will all continue to grow together.”

Chanukah, which is also known as the Festival of Lights, is the Jewish celebration to commemorate the recovery of Jerusalem and rededication of the Second Temple. The story goes that there was only enough oil to light the candles for one night, but miraculously it lasted for eight, making the holiday one where those celebrating light a menorah and eat foods fried in oil, like latkes and sufganiyot, or jelly filled donuts.

“On Chanukah, Jewish law places an emphasis on ‘Pirsumei Nisah,’ publicizing that a miracle took place which is why many families kindle their menorah at a window,” Liberow. “The awareness not only highlights Jewish pride but also provides a source of hope and comfort that G-d can and most certainly does perform miracles in our world today both on a micro and macro scale.”

Liberow mentioned that in 1973, Lubavitcher Rebbe Rabbi Menachem Schneerson, who was the seventh leader in the Chabad Lubavitch dynasty, encouraged the display of larger public menorahs to highlight Chanukah and its eternal message of victory, hope, and light.

“The fact that our community and beyond has seen more of that in the past years is only a testament of that and it’s simply inspiring,” Liberow said.

Thanks to the Torah Center and the Jewish Federation of Central Massachusetts, the evening included a menorah lighting in front of Polar Park, which was lit by different community members, including Mayor Joe Petty; Steven Schimmel, the executive director of the Jewish Federation of Central Massachusetts; Rabbi Aviva Fellman of Congregation Beth Israel; Bernie Rotman, a Jewish community leader; and Matt Levin, the WooSox’s senior vice president of corporate partnerships.

The night also included food from the WooSox Market which provides kosher items by the Butcherie in Brookline. There were visits from the WooSox mascots, Smiley Ball and Woofster, as well as Princess Anna from the Disney movie “Frozen.”

This year, there were Chanukah displays in towns beyond Worcester. Marlborough hosted a menorah lighting in front of Walker Building on Tuesday, November 30. Northborough hosted its first ever menorah lighting on December 4, in conjunction with Beth Tikvah Synagogue. Six synagogue members at Congregation Bnai Shalom in Westboro built a new menorah for the community to light.

“I was so happy to see this, especially with all of the anti-Semitism we still see and the activity on campuses,” said Mindy Hall, who is the outreach director of the Jewish Federation of Central Massachusetts. “We’re putting ourselves out there and we are able to share our holiday…It’s wonderful that we can share Chanukah for the public. It’s just a wonderful thing.”

There was a celebration also at the Worcester Arts Museum on the 5th during the day and a menorah was lit both at the Canal District Stroll in Kelly Square as well as at the Worcester Festival of Lights at the Commons.

Hall said that she hopes to see even more communities, even those without a large Jewish population, to have menorah lightings in the coming years, as she said it.

“It brings people closer to Judaism who aren’t Jewish and it shows that we’re just people trying to celebrate our holiday,” Hall said. “I think it’s a beautiful thing to share with the general community.”

Hall said that the learning aspect of the holiday is the main part to bring more awareness to the community. It allows for more people to enjoy the special celebrations.

“I have to say that pulling up to Polar Park and seeing a crowd of that size in Worcester blew me away both with pride in our growing Jewish community and our City,” Liberow said.

Even more so, a celebration like this would have been on hold last year due to the pandemic. Liberow said that added to the specialness of the event.

“I feel that the restrictions and life changes we all needed to employ for our safety and that of our neighbors also enabled a perspective shift in the world,” Liberow said, “enabled a perspective shift in the world allowing us to see what is truly important and now when we are able to be together and we all step up and make sure to be there.”

Hall said that last year there were drive-ins in Worcester and in Westborough to celebrate the holiday.

This year however, Hall was excited to “share in the light that is Chanukah.” Children were able to enjoy the event at Polar Park as well with a magician and other activities.

“It was exactly what we had hoped,” Hall said. “We had a lot of young families…People of all ages were so happy to be there.”

There was a magician, and Aviv Jerbi, community shaliach, or emissary, hosted a station for kids to decorate large dreidels, or spinning tops, and fill them with candy. There were also donut making stations as well.

“Coming from Israel, where Chanukah is not a big holiday, and seeing the amazing interpretation of the American Jews for Chanukah really makes me think about this holiday and its meaning,” Jerbi said. “This community of Central Massachusetts has really become a big light in my life and showed me the strength of a community.”

Hall said that the importance of having everyone there though was not lost on anyone.

“It just shows the strength of our community,” she said. “It was just beautiful.”