Menorah lighting becomes new tradition in Ridgewood
DECEMBER 18, 2014 LAST UPDATED: THURSDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2014, 2:13 PM
BY JODI WEINBERGER
STAFF WRITER |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
Hanukkah, the eight-day celebration centered around a miracle, felt like exactly that to some Ridgewood residents.
On Tuesday, the first night of the Jewish holiday, members of the Ridgewood Menorah Committee handed out blue goody bags filled with glow sticks, bracelets, dreidels, and gelt while cantors from Temple Israel and Wyckoff’s Temple Beth Rishon sang traditional songs.
Propped up against a statue facing the still un-lit menorah was Hanna Landau, a 46-year village resident and Holocaust survivor.
“I’m glad I lived long enough to see it,” Landau said of the menorah lighting about to take place.
When she moved to Ridgewood in 1968, Landau said anti-Semitism was still part of the way of life.
Her family had been denied homes by realtors and children at school would call her kids hurtful names.
“It was difficult living here in the ’60s,” Landau said. “I could not believe 12 miles from the GW [George Washington Bridge] there was a town that was so restricted.”
