A large menorah in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood was vandalized Wednesday night. The 9-foot menorah was broken into pieces and left in Bergen Place Park.
“It’s extremely disturbing, and this kind of hateful act has no place in the community,” said Rabbi Yoni Levitin.
Chabad of Northwest Seattle, which is located in Phinney Ridge, received a permit from the city to display the menorah for the eight nights of Hanukkah. The synagogue put up the nine-foot tall, star-shaped menorah on Tuesday, and it was vandalized on the second night of Hanukkah.
Levitin filed a police report and invited the community to help rebuild the menorah on Thursday.
Now the lights shine again in Ballard, which the Rabbi calls a metaphor for the holiday itself, "The message of Hanukkah is that a small amount of light shines very far and when confronted with hate and darkness you must act and stand strong."
The group is plans to hold a public menorah lighting and celebration on Sunday.
“The lights of the menorah have a universal message for all of us that when goodness and kindness encounter hate, light would always prevail,” said Levitin.
