The Brownsville section of Brooklyn, once dubbed “Yerushalayim of America,” is now seeing a revival of Jewish life, and a central menorah tells that story.
Men, women, and children from the Brownsville Jewish community join together to rekindle once again the Chanukah lights in the “Zion Memorial” Plaza – a memorial remembering the fallen Jewish soldiers in WWI. As community members light the Menorah, there is a special feeling that the lights are once again shining in the streets of a community that for so many years had lost its Jewish presence.
In an interesting twist, a holiday event scheduled to take place in the plaza on Sunday was rescheduled by the local municipality to Shabbos, so it wouldn’t interfere with the menorah lighting.
The lighting was made possible with the help of Rabbi Yossi Butman from the Lubavitch Youth Organization and was arranged by the Brownsville Jewish Community Center.
For more about the Brownsville Jewish community, visit BrownsvilleJCC.com
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