Final Hanukkah Celebrations Take Place Across The Denver Metro Area
DENVER (CBS4) - Sunday marked the last night of Hanukkah, and many people across the Denver metro area were celebrating. Families enjoyed Colorado's first helicopter "Gelt drop," where chocolate coins were tossed from the sky at Infinity Park in Glendale. People were also invited to take part in the pubic lighting of a menorah.
"We're gathering to celebrate religious freedom," explained Rabbi Mendel Sarota, WCRJ Synagauge of Denver. "To celebrate Hanukkah, which celebrates religious freedom."
In Westminster, the Chabad of Northwest Metro Denver showed their appreciation to police for their protection and security at the synagogue by lighting a menorah in honor of Westminster Police chief Tim Carlson. The event took place at the Orchard Town Center.
The events follow a deadly shooting earlier this month in New Jersey, where five people were killed in the anti-Semitic attack. There was also a stabbing in New York Saturday night that hurt five people at a Hanukkah celebration.
The community is taking this celebration as a way to stand up against hate.
"We will not be afraid, we will not be scared," Rabbi Sarota said. "And the message of Hanukkah is about light and that light will always be victorious over darkness."
As the candles of the menorah were lit, one flame at the Westminster event symbolizes that rise from darkness. Every year the mother of 10-year-old Jessica Ridgeway, who was murdered in 2012, is asked to light a lamp in memory of her daughter.
"We are always going to miss Jessica. She's always part missing of the plate that we can't replace once its broken," her mother Sarah Ridgeway said. "To see so many people still come together and honor her is amazing."
An event, that celebrated not only light, but the community coming together as one.
"They are supporting of us, and the Jewish community, and of all faiths," explained Rabbi Benjy Brackman with the Chabad of Northwest Metro Denver. "I think that's really what we have to celebrate here tonight."
