The parade route will be a long one, threading its way between South Dakota, Iowa and Nebraska. Led by Rabbi Mendel Katzman of Chabad-Lubavitch of Nebraska in Omaha, the Jews of Sioux City, Iowa, will be participating in what has become an ever-widening annual tradition all over the world: the car-top menorah parade.
“I’m proud to be Jewish,” said 45-year-old Dan Lederman of nearby Dakota Dunes, S.D., explaining why he helps organize the parade and public menorah-lighting for the local community, which numbers several dozen Jewish households. “The reception is always positive, and I enjoy sharing Chanukah with other people.”
The car-top menorah was invented during Chanukah of 1973, when a group of Chabad-Lubavitch yeshivah students were planning to go to Manhattan to distribute menorahs. They figured that if they could put a giant one on top of a car, many more people would notice them and take the menorahs they were distributing. Using wooden scraps and cinder blocks, they manage to make a large menorah and tie it down to the roof of a station wagon.
The menorah turned out to be a success. And a new holiday tradition was born.
This gave way to the menorah parade, which became a staple in cities from Jerusalem to New York, where some 300 menorah-topped cars and 55 mitzvah tanks (holiday-outfitted RVs) will drive down Fifth Avenue on Saturday night, Dec. 16, during this year’s parade.
But the practice has since reached well beyond the larger cities with ubiquitous Jewish presences.
‘People Jump Up and Down’
Speaking with a broad Southern drawl, Harry Ehrenberg of Little Rock, Ark., asserted: “I never thought I would have a menorah on top of my car. But Chabad has encouraged people to be more observant and more upfront about their Judaism, and it has been met well. They’ve shown us that it is possible, and Jews and non-Jews have responded favorably.”
Now in its third year, the Arkansas parade comprises about 15 vehicles.
Ehrenberg’s family has deep roots in the South. His ancestors came to Arkansas in the 1850s and have lived there ever since. Before that, they lived in Texas (at the time part of Mexico), where they took part in the Texas War of Independence, which ended in 1836.
Peppering his speech with words like “y’all,” he says that onlookers have generally been delighted by the sight of the menorah parade—something he says is very much in line with the area’s strong religious and pro-Israel predilections.
The same sentiment was echoed by Daniela Voda, who has participated in the menorah parade in Honolulu, Hawaii, since 2012. Their local caravan of 20 or so cars makes its way through downtown Honolulu and then moves on to Waikiki, where it is greeted by throngs of tourists.
“We drive by honking our horn, and we see people jumping up and down on the sidewalks, so excited to see us,” says Voda, who grew up in Romania and discovered her Jewish heritage later in life.
“My three boys join us in the car every year, and for them, this is part of our holiday tradition,” she says. “We go to the parade, we have latkes and dance at the central menorah-lighting, and then we go home to light our own menorah.”
Related Article:
Four Decades of Car Menorahs Lighting the Way
Related Article:
The Woman Behind the Fifth Avenue Menorah
How Atara Ciechanover spearheaded the design and creation of the world’s most visible menorah
Related Article:
Chanukah Light Around the World, From the U.S. to Uganda
Experiencing the joy of menorah-lightings, concerts and coins dropping from the sky
Related Article:
40 Years Later: How the Chanukah Menorah Made Its Way to the Public Sphere
Through the years and the courts, a small spark in Philadelphia now lights up the world
Start a Discussion