14 | DECEMBER 15 • 2022 

OUR COMMUNITY

C

ongregation Chabad House-
Lubavitch of Eastern Michigan, 
will light a 22-foot public 
Chanukah menorah at Shea Automotive 
(2100 Linden Road, Flint) at 5 p.m. Dec. 
19, the second night of the eight-day 
Festival of Lights, 
The community will be joined by 
prosecuting attorney for Genesee 
County David Leyton, Genesee County 
Sheriff Christopher Swanson and 
Michigan Supreme Court Justice Richard 
Bernstein. The event will also feature 
delicious holiday foods and hot soup. 
Complimentary Chanukah menorahs 
and candles will be distributed as well 
for participants to light at home.
The large-scale, in-person pub-
lic Chanukah celebration returns to 
Genesee County after a nearly two-year 
hiatus, and record numbers of partic-
ipants are expected to join Chabad of 
Eastern Michigan’s menorah lighting this 
year.
Thirty-seven years ago, Rabbi Yisroel 
Weingarten and his wife, Shainie, moved 
from Brooklyn to meet the needs of 
the Flint Jewish community. One of 
Weingarten’s first and largest functions 
was erecting Eastern Michigan’s largest 
menorah 36 years ago. 
“Everyone is especially excited about 
Chanukah this year,” said Mrs. Shainie 
Weingarten, co-director of Chabad of 
Eastern Michigan. “People are prepar-
ing to celebrate with family and friends, 
to fill their homes with the light of 
Chanukah, and there’s a palpable joy. 
The public Chanukah celebration is 
about sharing this light and joy with 
the broader community and the entire 
Genesee County.”

A GLOBAL CHANUKAH 
AWARENESS CAMPAIGN 
Chanukah emphasizes that each and every 
individual has the unique power to illumi-
nate the entire world. It was to encourage 
this profound idea that the Rebbe, Rabbi 
Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous 
memory, launched the Chanukah aware-
ness campaign in 1973, of which Flint’s 
public Chanukah activities are a part of. 
Chabad-Lubavitch’s annual Chanukah 
campaign has distributed millions of 
menorahs to Jews around the world, and 
erected thousands of public menorahs to 
share its universal message of light over 
darkness with humanity at large. This year’s 
Chanukah campaign will be one of unprec-
edented light and joy, seeing Chabad reach 
8 million Jews in more than 100 countries. 
This year’s Chanukah campaign comes 
amid a growing awareness of Chabad-
Lubavitch’s indelible impact on Jewish 
life. Pew Research Center’s 2020 survey of 
Jewish Americans showed that 38% of all 
American Jews have participated in Chabad 
activities and services, of whom more than 
75% do not identify as Orthodox.
Indeed, during the pandemic, demand 
for Chabad of Eastern Michigan’s religious, 
humanitarian and educational services 
skyrocketed, and Chabad met Genesee 
County’s needs with social services and 
elderly care. “We’ve seen a massive uptick 
in the level of engagement over the last year 
and a half,
” said Rabbi Israel Weingarten.
The menorah’s power is especially felt 
when it is lit with joy and enthusiasm, 
as it will be this year, with added appre-
ciation for the blessing of being able to 
gather once again as a community and 
celebrate together. 

Flint Chabad sees growing engagement 
and expands to meet local need.

22-Foot Steel 
Chanukah Menorah Lights 
Up Genesee County 

JN STAFF

The 22-foot 
menorah will 
be lit in Flint 
Dec. 19.

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