The first night of Hanukkah in Pacific Palisades, coming nearly a year after the January wildfires, was always going to evoke joy and loss in the beleaguered community.
But on Sunday evening, as leaders from the Chabad Jewish Community Center of Pacific Palisi gathered at the malls of Pacific Holall to light a cool festival at the Jewish festival in Sydi Beach in Sydney, Australia.
A couple lay flowers in memory of the shooting victims outside the bondi pavilion on Sydney’s Bondi Beach on Monday, a day after the mass shooting.
(Maka PAKER / Press Press)
That attack on Sunday killed at least 15 and injured at least 38. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albony called the shooting “an act of terrorism on our shores in Australia…
That killing threw off holiday celebrations in Pacific Palisades, where the Jewish community gathered for the lighting of 38 candles and the first Hanukkah celebrations since the first Hanukkah fire since Altadena in January.
For Rabbi Zushe Cunin, the Executive Director of Chabad Palisades who led Sunday’s event, the Sydney attack summed up the grief his community has felt over the last year.
“I don’t know if you can make sense of that; it’s impossible to accept,” said Cunin. “We have been reorganized, and we are able to move forward as we cry as we cry. But it is unacceptable that people who come out to celebrate as a community, to bring that.”
Security fears called for tighter controls at the Menorah-Lighting Festival, where visitors pass armed security guards, illegal police and metal decorations before the music and holiday decorations. But once inside the Palisades Village Mall, children ate Sufganiyot donuts and decorated ornaments while adults danced to hanukkah-themed pop songs.
Developer Rick Caruso puts out small menus for children at the annual Hanukkah festival in the village of Palikades.
(Carlin Stiehl / for the times)
Los Angeles Architect and Veteran Maic Cela, who built the Palisades Village Mall (and successfully protected it during the fire), met an appreciative crowd before the event.
Even with the added security concerns, producing this event for the palisades’ indoor facilities is “very important,” Carruso said in an interview. “This is all about hope. Hanukkah is a celebration of lights, and it’s about locking arms and supporting each other and being together.” It is important to show strength together and lift people up. “
Hundreds more attended on Sunday who said they would honor the resilience of both the community and the victims of Australia’s tragedy. The danger of gathering to celebrate Hanukkah in public after the attack on the rest of the crowd.
“I wanted to come out after what happened in Australia and show solidarity. That was important to me,” said Joseph Shalant, who was then, “said Joseph Shalant, who was important to me,” said Joseph. “Seeing the warmth of the people here, and the fact that we can’t go out, shows that we will not be brought down by any antisemitism that exists, and there is a lot of it.”
Many attendees, who were displaced after the fire, used the event to catch up with old friends and old neighbors they hadn’t seen in months.
“I have been in Palisodes for 24 years, and this is a really important moment, because we missed each other,” said Frances Nedjat-Haieem Hanukkah Guvinent University Hanukkah Hanukkah Hanukkah Hanukkah Hanukkah Hanukkah Hanukkah Hanukkah who came up with Hanukkah who came up with Hanukkah who came up with Hanukkah who came up with Hanukkah who came up with Hanukkah who came up with Hanukkah who came up with Hanukkah who came up with Hanukkah who came up with Hanukkah who came up with Hanukkah who came up with Hanukkah who came up with Hanukkah Case. “Everyone is spread out in different communities. Some of us haven’t seen each other since the fire. This is where our community comes back to find our lives.”
As Cunin and his fellow celebrants raised torches to light 10 tall demonic candles in the Plaza, he told the crowd that “You don’t know enough words to express our mixed feelings today.”
Aside from the praise of the military and the communities of Altadena, each of them began to rebuild and reconnect, raising a comforting community that “does an amazing job, that supports the community, Jews and non-doers.”
The menorah was lit on Sunday at the annual event, where attendees mourned the mass shootings in Australia.
(Carlin Stiehl / for the times)
Since the community of the palisade was blamed for its loss and the future of the port-fire in this area, Cunin hoped that this small event could help them “change the pain with purpose.” Both the Sydney attacks and the January fires show how difficult life and society can be.
Still, he felt grateful that, for one night, everyone felt safe going back to the candlelight booths to celebrate the candles.
“People we’ve known for decades fighting and coming back,” said Cunin. “Even if your house is occupied, you still suffer, and you miss your community. Today was really special, to have a whole house of people who want to feel connected.”
