Menorah Lighting Is More Than Kosher

The Chabad of San Clemente lit a 10-foot menorah at the end of the municipal pier on Sunday at 5 p.m. in celebration of the first night of Hanukkah.

The larger than usual menorah radiated the deck of the pier once the sun set and Rabbi Mendel Slavin, the director of the Chabad of San Clemente, greeted roughly 200 smiling faces and led them in singing and dancing to “Maoz Tzur” and “I Have a Little Dreidel.” 

Many people wore plastic menorah necklaces that were illuminated with colorful neon lights as they danced about freely to synthesized Jewish music. 

The rabbi spoke briefly about the City of San Clemente and expressed his great appreciation with the city’s welcoming spirit of a Jewish center and the Chabad’s ability to practice religion freely. 

Tim Brown, the mayor pro-tem of San Clemente, and firefighters from Station 60 showed up to give their support and enjoyed some of the coffee and donuts. There was a brief guitar performance from Brenton Talcott, and the Rabbi’s son Shua Slavin got the crowd geared up with an impressive juggling performance after the lighting of the menorah. 

Because of strict city fire code regulations the menorah could not burn an open flame, so the menorah was instead illuminated with bright light bulbs.