Amid protests by atheists and about security guards, menorah supporters ask why the same conflict does not apply to downtown Christmas tree.
Every since 2006, Chabad by the Sea has erected a large, golden menorah downtown to mark the eight days of Hanukkah. Every night of Hanukkah (December 11 to December 18), the candles of the menorah are lit as part of a public celebration of the holiday. Except, perhaps, for this year.
Kathy Agnone, the city’s Event Permit Coordinator, has informed Rabbi Yochanan Friedman that if the menorah is to be lit, he will have to provide a 24 hour guard for it. Friedman responded that since no guard was required for the nearby Christmas tree, he sees no reason why a guard should be required to stand by the menorah. Agnone answered that the Christmas tree’s lights are part of the general policy of adding lights to trees downtown during the dark winter months. The Christmas tree is just one more tree with lights on it.
While Friedman decides whether his group can afford to pay the $5,000 that a security guard will cost, local atheist groups are also planning to protest the placing of the menorah—a religious symbol—on public property. Most atheists do not have problems with the Christmas tree, because, as one person explains, “They’ve done a conscientious job of de-Christianizing it.”
The Menorah does have the support of two prominent Jewish members of City Council, Mayor Mike Rotkin and Councilman Ryan Coonerty. “I don’t know how you can have a holiday tree and not a menorah,” said Rotkin. Read More at the Santa Cruz Sentinel.
