By Stacey Dresner

For the very first time since it was founded, “Chanukah Fire on ICE” in West Hartford, Connecticut lit the first candle on its ice sculpture menorah on the first night of Chanukah.

It was also the first time the event has been held on LaSalle Road in West Hartford Center, where hundreds of people were on hand to celebrate the fun-filled event, presented annually by Chabad of Greater Hartford.  

Besides the lighting of the menorah, the crowd –  including life-sized dreidels and Judah Maccabee – danced to the music of chasidic pop music group 8th DAY.

Local celebrities were in attendance–  WTNH anchorman Dennis House led a rousing game of Jewish trivia and West Hartford Mayor Shari Cantor gave a shout-out to everyone celebrating Chanukah.

Families and children enjoyed arts & crafts, colorful spinning dreidels, glow-in-the-dark face painting, and rides around LaSalle Road on a trackless train. Chabad distributed menorahs, candles, and Chanukah-at-home kits to those celebrating at home. A highlight was the Chanukah gelt drop from the extended ladder of a West Hartford fire truck.

At a time when antisemitism is on the rise, Rabbi Shaya Gopin, who organized the event, said that the theme of the event is to “promote a message of light and evoke Jewish pride.”

“For most of our history we were a persecuted minority. The fact  that, today, a public Menorah is kindled in Russia’s Red Square, Brandenburg Gate in Germany, Madrid, Rome, and many locations where our ancestors were hunted in hate, attest to the fact that our world has come a long way,” he told those gathered. “This public celebration of Chanukah gives us a moment where we can feel proud to be Jewish.”

The menorah lighting highlighted that Jewish pride, as a group of “present day Maccabees” holding torches passed a flame across the stage.

The first torch-holders were West Hartford residents Edith Denis, a survivor of Auschwitz, and her friend Esther Kanner, who spent the war with her family in Siberia, moved to Israel, and served in the IDF.

“Esther is a proud Jewish woman, and when she realized how special it would be to have a large menorah on display in her building, where many Jews live, Esther put in much effort to make sure there would be a menorah to shine brightly for all to see,” Rabbi Gopin said.

The next torch was held by Eveline Schetkman and Amy Rosenfeld, two Jewish moms from Farmington, Connecticut who took action when their school board decided the town’s schools would be open on the Jewish High Holidays. As a result of their actions, the school board reversed their decision.

Max Kershen of West Hartford shared his torch with his grandmother Jenny Kausner, a Holocaust survivor. A member of Friendship Circle of Greater Hartford when he was a teenager, Kershen is now a student at Vanderbilt University and board member of Chabad on Campus, working on Jewish student engagement.

The youngest torch-holder, Nissim Kalmar, is one of the only students at King Philip Middle School in West Hartford who proudly wears a kippah

“Wearing a kippah at school just feels like being me,” Nissim says. “I don’t feel comfortable without wearing it; it is who I am.” 

The middle schooler passed the flame to David Roth, whom together with his wife Linda, is a supporter of Chabad and Friendship Circle.

“There is nothing more important and a bigger blessing than when we stand together,” said Rabbi Josef Gopin, director of Chabad of Greater 

Hartford, “each together holding a candle – a flame of hope, a flame of kindness, a flame of God in all of  us.”

All photos by Chris Rakoczy / Nick Caito Photo.