Center for Jewish Life in Sag Harbor Celebrates Season With Unity Menorah Project

This year is the year of Hakhel on the Jewish calendar, a time when Jews traditionally come together to reaffirm their faith.

“During Biblical times, Jews would hold pilgrimages to the holy temple in Jerusalem,” said Rabbi Berel Lerman of the Center for Jewish Life — Chabad in Sag Harbor. “They would celebrate togetherness and rededicate themselves to the ideals of living to a higher purpose inspired by the values of the Torah and Godliness and spirituality.”

This year, Hakhel is occurring after two years of pandemic, which, Lerman said, brought on an extended period of isolation and separation.

“It is very unique that this happens to be the year of Hakhel, which signifies just the opposite — the idea of coming together, the idea of unity,” he said.

To celebrate, the center is holding the “Unity Menorah Project.” Members of the public have been invited to add a brushstroke (or several) to a 10-foot wide canvas that is on display.

Those who cannot make it to the center itself, have been invited to submit their brushstroke online at the center’s website. Those brushstrokes submitted through the website will be digitally added to the final work. The project has been overseen by the artist Nathan Slate Joseph.

“The truth is great things happen when we come together,” Lerman said. “The United States of America highlights this. ‘E pluribus unum’ — out of many, one. When individuals come together, we can achieve a lot more than we can achieve individually.”

Lerman said it was fitting to celebrate the theme of togetherness and unity during Hanukkah, which begins at sundown on Sunday, December 18, and ends on Monday, December 26.

“The menorah is a symbol of light vanquishing darkness, of good overcoming tyranny,” he said, so by working together on the menorah, the community is also symbolically chasing away darkness.

The Hanukkah story tells how outnumbered and against all odds, the Jews overthrew their tyrannical Syrian oppressors in about 200 BC. When they reclaimed the temple, they were able to light the menorah for eight days from a one-day supply of pure oil.

“We look around at the world around us and sometimes it seems to be a dark and lonely place,” Lerman said. “But here we are coming together in a unity menorah project, and what we are creating is a symbol of light, which again highlights the point not only of togetherness but of coming together to shine a light — and one small light has the ability to vanquish a lot of darkness.”

The public has been invited to visit the center, at 24 Long Island Avenue, between noon and 2 p.m. on Sunday, December 18, to add individual strokes to the menorah. A Hanukkah party will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. on Sunday, December 26.

To submit a brushstroke online, visit the center’s website, cfjewishlife.com/unity-menorah.