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.