KU Chabad’s Menorah Found

by Barbara Bayer, KCJC

A menorah sits outside the Chabad Jewish Center at the University of Kansas once again. The structure was vandalized sometime on Friday evening, Feb. 4, or Saturday morning, Feb. 5. The pieces were recovered four days later on Feb. 9.

Rabbi Zalman Tiechtel, who co-directs the center along with his wife, Nechama, said while the structure has been put back together outside the Chabad House, it needs extensive repairs.

“That includes rewiring, welding repairs to the metal and repainting,” the rabbi said.

The investigation is still ongoing and Rabbi Tiechtel said Lawrence police do not want to disclose where the pieces were found. At press time no arrests had been made.

“One thing is clear. The menorah was left unattended at a location in Lawrence, and was found thanks to the media publicity,” the rabbi said.

Rabbi Tiechtel said they managed to get the menorah put back together before Shabbat last week (Feb. 11) because it was “very important to us to have it back up before our weekly Shabbat dinner for tens of students. We wanted to restore it as soon as we could.”

KU Chabad does not have the funding in place yet to pay for the electrical repairs.

“The entire menorah needs to be rewired, as the vandals tore it all apart,” he said. “We hope to raise these monies and have it lit up soon.”

KU Chabad is also increasing security to make sure the menorah won’t be vandalized again.

“Without disclosing too much for security reasons, I will share that the menorah has been rebuilt and installed in a way that it is extremely difficult for anyone to move it,” he said.

Chabad at KU is currently doing a comprehensive review of its entire security plan.

“We are in close contact with local city and county law enforcement, as well as with the FBI and Department of Homeland Security. We have created a strong security committee and are taking all necessary steps to ensure a secure and safe place for all, without compromising on Chabad’s signature open and welcoming embrace,” Rabbi Tiechtel said.

The campaign established last week to raise funds for a new menorah will instead assist with the electrical repairs for the menorah as well as the beefed up security.

“This security overhaul is a very costly project,” Rabbi Tiechtel said.

The campaign is being spearheaded by Kansas City native Megan Singer as well as Leah Levy and Rachel Kraig. All three are seniors at KU.