This month is a milestone anniversary in marking 35 years since a Chanukah menorah was first displayed on public property.
It started four decades ago with Rabbi Shlomo Ezagui and his brother, who bucked established narratives and even some Jewish thought to compel governments to allow religious symbols on public property.
鈥淲hen I arrived 40 years ago, the island was an elitist enclave known for its restrictive policies, 鈥楴o dogs. No Jews.鈥欌�� Ezagui told me in an interview. 鈥淏ut we gained acceptance in Palm Beach, and if we could do that, then we can create it anywhere in the country.鈥�
As Jews prepare to celebrate Chanukah, which begins on the evening of Christmas, he reflected on the lessons learned then and how they remain relevant, even after October 2023, when Hamas invaded Israel, massacred 1,200 Israelis and kidnapped more than 200. The attack resulted in Israel鈥檚 continuing military response in Gaza, contributing to a spike in antisemitism worldwide.
The pursuit of a public display of a menorah started with an idea.
鈥淚 felt if I was going to put up a menorah, would be the best place for me to get the bang for my buck,鈥� Ezagui added. 鈥淲hat better place to make a statement about being proud to be a Jew?鈥�
But the island was out of the question.
So he approached the state government about placing a blowup menorah at Florida Turnpike entrances. He was rejected.
The American Jewish Congress supported the state鈥檚 refusal. Two years later, the Anti-Defamation League and American Civil Liberties Union came out against displaying a menorah in Palm Beach.
The rationale for the liberal Jewish organizations鈥� opposition was that the United States should not intermingle with or support religions, which would open the way for Christians to add government-sponsored nativity scenes, Ezagui concluded.
鈥淭his argument was faulty at the core. The United States began as a religious country, Christian. Unfortunately, the interpretation became that the U.S. is strongly against any religion,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hese groups did not want the involvement and support of government in any religion at all.鈥�
Started at the fairgrounds
In 1990, Ezagui placed what he says is the 鈥渇irst-ever in the world鈥� 35-foot blowup menorah at the South Florida fairgrounds.
In 1991, Palm Beach Town Council members refused to allow the menorah to be displayed on Worth Avenue, as 鈥渋nappropriate and divisive.鈥� Ezagui sued the town on behalf of a local Lubavitch center.
The next year, the rabbi placed a balloon menorah on a commercial building overlooking Interstate 95, north of Blue Heron Boulevard. He also hired an airplane to fly over Palm Beach and Singer Island trailing the sign, 鈥淗appy Chanukah.鈥�
鈥淎round this time, the Ku Klux Klan announced they would have a demonstration on the island,鈥� Ezagui said. The notoriety from the visit was not welcome.
鈥淪trangers privately contacted me. The vast majority told me not to do this. They said I was a troublemaker, that I was ruffling feathers, and I should not make waves.鈥�
He said most of these critics were Jewish.
鈥淭hey saw a young rabbi from New York, who they thought didn鈥檛 give a hoot about their home, would even sue the town and was pushing his way in,鈥� Ezagui recalled.
In 1992, members of the Town Council referred to 鈥渟coundrels and nitwits,鈥� and 鈥渙utside forces,鈥� wrecking a way of life, according to reports at the time.
鈥淚 knew that I was pursuing something right, both in Jewish law and in the founding principles of the United States. Just like today, there is no reason to cave in to bullies, masquerading as activists, who have ulterior motives and are afraid of their own shadows,鈥� Ezagui said.
鈥淭he obstacles taught me to not be intimidated. If you believe strongly in a certain principle, then pursue it!鈥�
Menorah at Bradley Park
In 1995, Palm Beach, under the pressure of a federal lawsuit, agreed to allow a menorah at Bradley Park.
The attention got white hot.
In 1996, after now President-elect Donald Trump took ownership of Mar-a-Lago, the town turned down his plan to build eight homes on 17 acres there. He announced he was opening a social club that would be open to Jews and African-Americans.
Trump fought zoning restrictions to limit membership.
He accused town leaders of being 鈥渄iscriminatory, unfair and unconstitutional.鈥�
His lawyer mailed town leaders videotapes of 鈥淕entleman鈥檚 Agreement,鈥� the 1947 film starring Gregory Peck as a reporter who goes undercover as a Jew to experience antisemitism in America after World War II.
The New York Post soon ran the headline, 鈥淭rump Rips Palm Beach Jew-Haters.鈥�
There was another bitter clash in 2002, when menorahs on Worth Avenue were returned to their owners, after a lawsuit to place creches in the same shopping district. By 2004, the Town Council had its 鈥渕ost vicious鈥� election in memory, opponents said.
鈥淭here has been antisemitism on the island, and I thought we were making progress,鈥� said Bill Brooks, a former priest, television broadcaster and Palm Beach Town Council president. 鈥淚 think this was a terrible setback.鈥�
Council member Norman Goldblum said calls for 鈥済entility鈥� were code for going back to the way things were 20 to 30 years ago, including banning Jews from membership in private clubs.
鈥楲ast menorah standing鈥�
Today, Bradley Park is home 鈥渢o the last menorah standing in town,鈥� said Ezagui. It has been the venue for Chanukah parties for decades, happily attended by families and community leaders.
However, the battle is not over.
Last December, a sand menorah at the Juno Beach pier was destroyed and defaced with a swastika. The Ezaguis鈥� Jewish Community Synagogue, in North Palm Beach, paid the artist to quickly build a new menorah on the same spot. Several hundred people attended a community lighting ceremony.
Ezagui said he does not fold under pressure because, 鈥淚 drew strength from two mentors. The first was the late Rebbe Menachem Schneerson, one of the most influential Jewish leaders of the 20th century. He was a towering figure in my life, a giant among giants.鈥�
Shneerson escaped Nazis in World War II to launch the Chabad movement in Brooklyn in 1941.
鈥淪hneerson had great respect and gratitude for this country, which was open to him and his wife during the Holocaust. He knew the United States was founded by people who had run away for religious freedom,鈥� Ezagui said.
Ezagui said he was also influenced by his spiritual mentor when he studied in Israel; a rabbi who had been jailed in Siberia for 15 years.
Their experiences taught him that having the courage of your convictions and faith in God can surmount overwhelming obstacles under terrible circumstances.
鈥楽pread love, acceptance and understanding鈥�
Chabad Lubavitch was founded in 1775 in Russia to spread Judaism to other Jews, so none would feel alone or forgotten. 鈥淐habad鈥� is an acronym of the first Hebrew letters of wisdom, understanding and knowledge.
Ezagui started the first Chabad House in Palm Beach County. Today, Florida is home to 97 Chabad centers, according to . That website lists 31 locations in Palm Beach County with Boca Raton leading with 11. Chabad Houses are in all 50 states and in 40 countries with 6,500 emissary families plus tens of thousands of staff.
鈥淲e encourage an intellectual understanding of how Jews relate to God and each other,鈥� said Ezagui. 鈥淭he mission is to spread love, acceptance and understanding.鈥�
Some Chabad members pay with their lives. Recently, 28-year-old Chabad Rabbi Zvi Kogan was abducted and murdered in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. Others in the Chabad family were slaughtered in the horrific Mumbai, India, terrorist attack in 2008. And last October, there was a thwarted Iranian-orchestrated mass casualty attack of a kosher restaurant at a Chabad in Athens, Greece.
鈥淲e鈥檙e so lucky to be in this country. Its principles, including religious freedom, are the best the world has ever established. There is no way we can give this up. We must focus on the fact we鈥檙e in this country and don鈥檛 give away the rights that people fought for and still are,鈥� Ezagui said.
鈥淏ut most people do not realize the price and sacrifices that have been made so we can live the way we do. They don鈥檛 appreciate it or know about it and that is true locally and nationally.鈥�
鈥淭hat is why we don鈥檛 bend or show weakness,鈥� Ezagui said. 鈥淚f you believe that God is on your side, that is the strongest strength you can have with you.鈥�
This story was originally published by , a SA国际传谋 News partner.
