On the first night of Chanukah, the reborn community of Brownsville held a public menorah lighting at the Zion Triangle where a monument honors Brownsville’s fallen Jewish soldiers.
By Anash.org staff
Despite the pandemic restrictions, members of Brownsville’s young Jewish community came to rekindle the flame of the once Brownsville fame.
Gathered in the Zion Triangle standing in front of a historic monument remembering Brownsville’s fallen Jewish soldiers that fought for religious freedom in the first world war. All watched as Rabbi Mendel Schtroks calls up Omer Levy, Staff sergeant in the US reserves, to kindle the first flame and rekindle the Jewish light of Brownsville.
Many passersby could not believe what they were witnessing; a neighborhood which for decades lay empty of Jewish community life now has a Chanukah Menorah shining in the streets and children singing and enjoying chocolate gelt and doughnuts.
As the flames burned, the children got up to recite pesukim, as the crowd repeated after them.
This event was made possible through the help of Rabbi Yossi Butman of Lubavitch Youth Organization. A special thanks goes to NYPD for their help with the event and for their year-round support.
For more on the Brownsville community and to help its rebuilding, visit BrownsvilleJCC.com.
Photos: Yossi Schtroks
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