Chicago Jewish Organizations Join Unity Menorah Lighting

For many years, Congregation Bnei Ruven in Chicago has organized public menorah lightings at the shul continuing the Rebbe’s call to bring the light of Chanukah into public spaces. These events have long drawn wide participation and, over the years, have been attended by civic leaders including senators, secretaries of state, and other public officials.

This year’s Community Menorah Lighting at Bnei Ruven carried a deeper sense of purpose and unity.

In a meaningful show of solidarity, both the Chicago Rabbinical Council and Agudath Israel reached out and asked to stand together with the Chabad community. Their participation reflected a shared belief that the Rebbe’s declaration about the importance of public menorah lightings must be upheld with renewed strength, especially at this moment.

Rabbi Yona Reiss of the Chicago Rabbinical Council and Rabbi Yaakov Robinson of Agudath Israel addressed the gathering together with Rabbi Baruch Hertz of Bnei Ruven and the Chabad community. Each spoke about the power of lighting the menorah publicly as an expression of Jewish pride, faith, and responsibility.

More than 500 people attended, coming from neighborhoods across Chicagoland and well beyond the immediate community.

Following the public lighting, the celebration continued inside the synagogue with a warm and festive celebration organized by Rabbi and Mrs. Moshe Elya and Chaya Mushka Markowitz of Bnei Ruven.

This Chanukah was also the first celebrated on the newly inaugurated Devorah Leah Campus. The campus now includes the Aaron and Clara Jolcover High School building, the Bnei Ruven synagogue, a community mikvah, and men’s and women’s kollelim. This setting itself is an affirmation of the continuity and strength of the Jewish community.

The menorah itself added profound meaning to the evening. It was handcrafted by Holocaust survivor Fred Weiss obm, who rebuilt his life in Chicago after the war, established a successful metals enterprise, and raised a family deeply rooted in the Chicago Jewish community. His legacy continues through the generations he built. Lighting this menorah connected the community directly to a story of survival and rebuilding.

In the face of darkness, the community came together as the Rebbe directed, to light the menorah in the public square and affirm that Jewish light continues to grow and endure.

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