CEDAR RAPIDS — A 50-year American tradition of public menorahs will continue locally with Chabad N.E. Iowa’s annual lighting of a menorah on the sixth night of Hanukkah in Cedar Rapids next week.
It was a cold Saturday night in Philadelphia when Rabbi Abraham Shemtov lit a menorah in front of Independence Hall in 1974. The four-foot wood menorah is recognized as the first recorded public menorah lighting in the United States.
Today, public menorah lighting ceremonies are a mainstay in many U.S. cities. Cedar Rapids’ public menorah — in front of Siegel’s Jewelry at 3525 First Ave. SE — will be one of more than 15,000 public menorahs throughout the world…