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.

