OUR COMMUNITY

T

he 5784 Chanukah sea-
son in Metro Detroit
included an innovative
menorah lighting facilitated
by Rabbi Bentzi and Moussia
Geisinsky of Chabad of
Bingham Farms: The Kindness
Art Menorah. The lighting took
place on the eighth and final
night of Chanukah outside
the Franklin Public Library in
Franklin.
“Every year, since 2016,
Moussia and I sit down a few
months before Chanukah and
come up with a creative idea,

which would be a community
project and is often connected
to current events,
” Rabbi Bentzi
shared.
“This year, the idea was to
create a menorah consisting of
individually made and deco-
rated tzedakah boxes,
” Moussia
said. “Being that we find our-
selves in such dark times for our
nation, we wanted to emphasize
the power people have to light
up the world with our mitzvot
and acts of kindness, which is
what the mitzvah of tzedakah is
all about.
”

Bingham Farms Chabad Center creates
one-of-a-kind menorah from tzedakah boxes.

The Kindness
Art Menorah

YEVGENIYA GAZMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
PHOTOGRAPHY BY JAMIE FELDMAN

22 | JANUARY 11 • 2024 J
N

The final menorah consisted of
nearly 500 tzedakah boxes created
by students from nine schools,
both Jewish and public, as well as
guests of the Franklin Judaic Art
Studio in Franklin. Participating
schools were Bingham Farms,
Pierce and West Maple
Elementary Schools, Groves and
Seaholm High Schools, Berkshire
Middle School, Hillel Day School
and Farber Hebrew Day School
and Lubavitch Cheder.
Rabbi Bentzi and Moussia
are especially grateful to Lauren
Cohen, whom they consulted with
on this project.
The tzedakah boxes were each
coded by the school and included
the name of each student artist.
The tzedakah boxes are being
returned to each creator. “The
goal is that they should use them

and donate them to the charity of
their choice,
” Rabbi Bentzi said.
This year’s Chabad of Bingham
Farms menorah lighting had the
biggest turnout yet, with more
than 400 people in attendance.
The guests enjoyed delicious
soups and latkes and treats all pre-
pared in the Chabad of Bingham
Farms’ kitchen, as well as festive
donuts from Zeman’s Bakery.
The event included a prayer
for Israel and many activities
both outside and in a heated
tent. Booths included writing a
letter to IDF soldiers, creating
Am Yisrael Chai glowsticks,
decorating tie-dye donuts and
more. A fire show was enjoyed
by all.

Learn more about Chabad of Bingham

Farms at ChabadBinghamFarms.com.

Rabbi Bentzi Geisinsky welcomes people
to the eighth night of Chanukah.

The shamash
candle is lit on
the Kindness
Art Menorah.

Attendees
enjoyed a
spectacular
fire show.