Menorah Makes a Triumphant Return

On Wednesday morning, 4-year-old Isabella Wallet was riding past Library Point in her mother’s car when she noticed the menorah was missing.

Isabella attends preschool at the Jewish Community Center in Cherry Hill and was excited when she first saw the 6-foot menorah. Her mother had no explanation as to why it was missing just days before a scheduled lighting ceremony.

The menorah—which police said was stolen—made a triumphant return Thursday, to the joy of Isabella and a large crowd that filled the park in front of the Haddonfield Public Library known as Library Point. The rabbis and congregation of Chabad Lubavitch replaced the menorah with a larger one, a day after thieves pulled the stolen menorah from the ground.

Haddonfield Police Chief John Banning said Thursday he had no reason to regard the theft as a crime of intolerance. It was made of aluminum and may have been a target of scrap-metal thieves, he said. The borough has been plagued by more than three dozen brazen thefts of copper downspouts from homes over the last year, many while residents were inside.

Chabad Lubavitch has erected the menorah here for the past seven years. It was mounted this year near an evergreen tree on borough property that is lighted annually during the holiday season and a Nativity scene erected by a group called the Citizens for a Christian Christmas. 

This was the first year for the Nativity scene. Citizens for a Christan Christmas don't believe the decorated evergreen is a Christian symbol, group members said recently.

The relationship between Haddonfield and Chabad Lubavitch began seven years ago when Rabbi Yitzchok Kahan received a request from two members of the congregation who live in Haddonfield to provide a menorah and celebrate the festival of lights with members of the Haddonfield community.

Dr. Joel Chack, president of Chabad Lubavitch, said the crowd Thursday at the 6 p.m. lighting ceremony was the largest he has seen since the menorah has been here.

“Triumph is the meaning of the holiday—Jews triumphed over adversity," Chack said. "The theft of the original 6-foot menorah on Tuesday evening was a much smaller difficulty compared to what we overcame in the past. For whatever reason the menorah was taken—it was a minor issue that did not stop us from celebrating.”

During the ceremony, one woman in the crowd yelled, “A bigger and better menorah turned out a bigger and better crowd!” Philadelphia news media also featured the event after Wednesday of the theft.

Lee Hymerling, of Haddonfield, believes the celebration of Hanukkah is “so important for our town. The turnout shows goodwill, particularly in light of what happened.”

Cherry Hill resident Barry Berman was not aware that the menorah was a replacement for the original. He came to the ceremony because a friend told him about it.

Haddonfield resident Deborah Marchand said the theft of the menorah “makes me sad—the menorah is obviously for a celebration. No matter what the intent, if someone took the lights off of the holiday tree, that would make me sad too.”

Marchand had also complained to borough commissioners this week about the proximity of the Nativity scene to the lighted, evergreen tree because she thought it gave the impression of the borough sponsoring a religious symbol.

The three Haddonfield commissioners, the highest, elected borough officials, attended Thursday's lighting ceremony, which was scheduled before the menorah was stolen.

Mayor Tish Colombi, one of three commissioners, told the crowd she was “honored that people with like interests can come together in the community and celebrate together.” Colombi lit the first candle on the giant menorah, a symbol of the miracle of Hanukkah for Jews.

There are no synagogues in Haddonfield. Chabad Lubavitch is located in Cherry Hill.

“As the Jewish community moved into Cherry Hill and Moorestown, the synagogues moved with them," said Haddonfield resident Karin Elkis, who attended the lighting ceremony and recalled a former temple at the corner of Kings Highway and the White Horse Pike in nearby Haddon Heights. "For those of us in town, we are able to drive to services without any difficulties.”