Photo: Rabbi Abraham Shemtov, right, in front of Independence Hall in Philadelphia at the lighting of the very first public menorah in 1974. With him were yeshivah students who helped build it from scratch. (Photo: Lubavitcher Center)
Through the years and the courts, a small spark in Philadelphia now lights up the world
By Menachem Posner
December 1, 2014
4:32 PM
Chabad.org
[Editor’s Note – mention of a Chanukah Lighting at Gallaudet is highlighted in blue near end of article]
It was a frigid Saturday night during Chanukah of 1974, when Rabbi Abraham Shemtov had the unusual, perhaps wild idea of lighting a menorah right in front of Independence Hall, which houses the Liberty Bell, the icon of American freedom.
The menorah was crude and made of wood; he had fashioned it with the help of some visiting yeshivah students. Almost no one was on Independence Mall in Philadelphia that night to witness the actual lighting, but that simple 4-foot menorah was the seed from which thousands of public menorahs have sprouted up on public and private places throughout the United States and around the world.
Fast-forward 40 years, and these menorahs
