SCHOOL COMMITTEE VICE CHAIR Stacy Dahlstedt helps light the Menorah on the Town Common while Rabbi Yossi Lipsker looks on during the Menorah Lighting Ceremony on Dec. 21. (Dan Tomasello Photo)
By DAN TOMASELLO
LYNNFIELD — A moving Menorah Lighting Ceremony commemorating Hanukkah took place on the Town Common on Dec. 21.
Rabbi Yossi Lipsker, who is the regional director of the Chabad of the North Shore, served as the master of ceremonies for the Menorah Lighting Ceremony. Over a dozen residents attended the celebration, which featured the lights on the Town Common lit up in blue to celebrate the Festival of Lights.
“Happy Hanukkah everyone,” said Lipsker.
Town Administrator Rob Dolan said the Menorah Lighting Ceremony served as an opportunity to “recognize our important Jewish community.”
“This is a special time of year for everybody,” said Dolan. “We pride ourselves on making sure Lynnfield is a community that is open to all. We will continue to do that.”
Lipsker acknowledged that it has been a difficult year for the Jewish community in the wake of the war in Ukraine and a rise in anti-Semitism.
“It is surreal that this war is happening right under our noses,” said Lipsker. “There has also been an uptick in anti-Semitism that we ignore at our own peril. We can’t pretend that it doesn’t exist when it does exist. Being here together is a very powerful statement of the connections that we have in our community.”
Lipsker noted that the Chabad of the North Shore has organized over 25 menorah lighting ceremonies across the region, including Lynnfield’s.
“I can tell you that the folks in every city and town are the most beautiful people,” said Lipsker. “They care deeply about the Jewish community. They care about every person who lives in their community whether they are Jewish, Buddhist, Christian, Catholic, Episcopalian or atheist. The only thing that matters is that they live and believe in America.”
Lipsker recalled that his family came to the U.S. because they were oppressed for being Jewish.
“My grandfathers and great-grandfathers on both my mother’s and father’s side lived in a society that oppressed them for being Jewish,” said Lipsker. “My grandfather and 15 children had to escape Russia with nothing except the clothes on their backs. One of my uncles died while they were escaping because there wasn’t enough food. They found a place to be free when they came to America. That is what America is about.”
Lipsker said Hanukkah is about celebrating freedom.
“The story of Hanukkah is not a narrow historical event that happened to one group of people,” said Lipsker. “It’s a universal story about people’s desire to be free.”
Lipsker also gave a history lesson about Hanukkah. He recalled that Syrian King Antiochus IV Epiphanes sent soldiers to Jerusalem in 168 B.C., and the soldiers desecrated the Jewish temple.
“The Maccabees and the Jewish people who wanted to kindle their lights in the temple and study the Torah were no different than any other people who strived to be free,” said Lipsker. “That’s what the Founding Fathers of this country were preoccupied with. Freedom is universal, and the light of Hanukkah represents a bunch of people who decided enough is enough. They refused to let an emperor take away their freedom. They lived with integrity, held their heads high and fought back.”
Lipsker said the Jewish people who fought King Antiochus IV Epiphanes’ troops were “not the best soldiers.”
“They were used to studying the Torah and doing other things,” said Lipsker. “They didn’t know how to hold a sword up or down. They were facing an army that was unsurpassed militarily and strategically, and had elephants that were the tanks of their day. But the Jewish people didn’t show fear; they showed courage. They realized that they couldn’t live if who they are was shut down. That is what Hanukkah about. It’s a universal message.”
After Lipsker concluded his remarks, he led attendees while singing several Hanukkah songs and reciting traditional Jewish prayers. The ceremony’s attendees gave Lipsker a round of applause.
Several attendees, including local children Dillon and Sydney McKeough and School Committee Vice Chair Stacy Dahlstedt, helped light the Menorah on the Town Common.
Attendees also enjoyed jelly donuts and latkes at the end of the ceremony.