HUFFINGTON POST – CHRIS RODDA – Air Force Base Lights Menorah — Too Little, Too Late
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menorah
Selected Article Excerpts:
- Last Thursday night, Travis Air Force Base in California held its annual Christmas tree lighting. In a lame attempt to avoid complaints of not being religiously inclusive, a small menorah was included in the base’s “holiday” display along with the tree and a nativity scene.
- The size of the menorah compared to the Christmas tree is, of course, the “too little” part.
But it was the “too late” part that caused someone attending the tree lighting to contact the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) from the event.
- What was the problem? The base, while including the obligatory Jewish thing to feign inclusiveness and avoid complaints, apparently didn’t even bother to find out when Hanukkah was, or just didn’t care. The beginning of Hanukkah coincided with Thanksgiving this year, something that was pretty widely reported because of its rarity. Lighting the menorah as part of the Christmas tree lighting ceremony meant that the menorah wasn’t lit until the last day of Hanukkah! For the first seven days it wasn’t lit, if it was even in place yet.