The streets of Mt. Lebanon are set to glow a little brighter this holiday season. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s because for the first time, a menorah will be included in the municipality\u2019s holiday display at Clearview Common on Washington Road. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
As part of the celebration, a group of Mt. Lebanon residents held a menorah lighting on Wednesday, Dec. 17 at 5:30 p.m. that included rabbis from all three of the South Hill\u2019s synagogues\u2014Beth El Congregation of the South Hills, Chabad of the South Hills and Temple Emanuel of South Hills. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The menorah\u2019s inclusion is a victory for the Jewish community, who rallied at a January commission meeting and advocated for public recognition of the holiday. The charge was initially led by Chabad\u2019s Rabbi Mendy Rosenblum who had spent the last three years championing a public menorah and Chanukah parade. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Charlene Tissenbaum, one of the organizers of this year\u2019s menorah lighting, spoke at the commission meeting earlier this year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
When she learned that the municipality intended to include a menorah this year, she felt that the significance of the moment shouldn\u2019t be ignored. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tissenbaum enlisted the aid of Mt. Lebanon residents Eva Gelman and Stacey Reibach. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Temple Emanuel\u2019s Rabbi Aaron Meyer said Mt. Lebanon officials deserve a thank you for including the menorah. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m so grateful to Mt. Lebanon Municipal Manager Keith McGill, Rev. Noah Evans and the Civic Engagement Board, and the Mt. Lebanon Commissioners for hearing and acting upon the concerns of the Jewish community,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Those words were echoed by Beth El\u2019s Rabbi Alex Greenbaum who said the resident organized menorah lighting struck the right tone. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s perfect,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t need any more.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
As for Rosenblum who hosts Chanukah celebrations in both Dormont and Washington, he said the victory is the celebration. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s unbelievable in this largely Christian suburb of Pittsburgh that the holiday spirit is being ushered in with Chanukkah.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In addition to the menorah lighting the celebration will include holiday favorites like gelt, dreidels and donuts. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Menorah added to holiday display after community advocacy
\nBy David Rullo<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"nfd_image_url":"","nfd_onboarding_generated":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[33,41],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35208","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commission","category-events"],"yoast_head":"\n