City celebrates 10th annual Menorah Lighting

By Kerry Lyman

The 10th official lighting of the Fernley City Hall Menorah Monday evening was well attended by a couple dozen of the faithful, presided over by Rabbi Levi Sputz of the Chabad Learning Center in Carson City.

A friendly, smiling Fernley crowd greeted Rabbi Sputz and his family as he removed the electric lights of the city hall Menorah and briefly replaced them with fuel canisters and lit them for the ceremony on the sixth night of Hanukkah.

An invading army held and had desecrated the second holy Temple in Jerusalem, Sputz related, describing the significance of the Menorah and the Hanukkah holiday. “A small band of Jews said they served god on their terms, and they were going to evict the oppressors,” and they did, he said.

To celebrate their victory, they wanted “to light a Menorah with holy olive oil. But they only had a little jug of oil, not enough to last the eight days it would take to refill the Menorah.” But the little bit of olive oil they had lasted the entire eight days. “So we do this in remembrance of that great miracle,” Sputz said.

“As the world gets darker and darker, the light of the Menorah lights up our lives. The candles and flames keep us light and warm,” he said, as small candles were passed out and lit by all the participants. Music soon began and the crowd playfully broke into traditional dance. Hanukkah snacks and donuts were also provided.

Sputz teaches a Torah class monthly at Fernley City Hall and anyone interested should email him at Rabbi@jewishlearningnn.com.