By COLlive reporter
A Chabad woman was fined by a New York State Police officer for driving her Toyota minivan with a Car Menorah on Monday, the final day of Chanukah.
Patrol officer R Beyers stopped the vehicle at 9:29 PM on Merrick Drive in Spring Valley, near Monsey, and issued a ticket for “unauthorized lights.”
Car Menorahs are popular around New York and across the United States in practice with the age-old rabbinic instruction to “spread the miracle” of Chanukah to the world.
“The cop said he knows about the Menorah Parade things, but since this wasn’t part of it, he’s giving a ticket,” a person familiar with the matter told COLlive.com.
He noted that the bulbs on the Car Menorah in the minivan that was stopped were 4 watts, “so according to the law it’s actually fine anyway.”
The local resident went on to point out that this happened 2 days after the anti-Semitic stabbing attack at a Chanukah celebration in Monsey, leading many Jews to feel unsafe in their residence.
In his defense, the officer said that if someone would have a pine tree on their roof, he’d give them a ticket as well.
It’s a time when officers need to work for the community and be more attentive. He might be 100% right but need to be more sensitive.
Hopefully the judge will dismiss it.
Just to clarify, the menorah was NOT illegal. It wasn’t bright enough to be illegal. And who did the police officer tell that he would give a ticket to someone with a tree on their roof? He didn’t tell that to the woman in the car…
Sorry. He did say about the tree. My bad…
I think they should only give a ticket if you still have the menorah up for pesach and Schach up for Chanukah
Indeed authorized by the Supreme Chief of the world!
I live right next to Merrick drive in Spring Valley. Spring Valley has police officers not State Troopers. If this was a state trooper he was out of his jurisdiction.
The entire state is their jurisdiction. That’s why they are STATE troopers
Do you realize what you just said? He’s a STATE trooper, unless he goes into another state he’s not out of jurisdiction, they can stop anywhere within the STATE. But that’s besides the point here
Not for traffic violations, unless the driver was on a state or county road.
State troopers can issue traffic tickets anywhere in the state of NY. That’s their job which they are sworn to do. The road has nothing to do with it. If a violation is observed, he or she enforces the law.
Out of jurisdiction??? Ummm…”state”
NYS is the jurisdiction for NYS troopers.
They seem to be missing the point either intentionally or not
I hope she gets herself a good lawyer and fights the case to the end. its high season for anti semitism to stop.
I was once told by a Jewish retired cop that any white light visible from the back is illegal. Not sure if this is true.
Its another format of attacking the Jewish community
They all transport their trees home on the roof of their cars. I don’t believe he’d actually ticket them.
Honestly with the way the tanks drive it’s a miracle they don’t all get pulled over and that the parade can still go on.
what about all the lights all over the city for xmas? this act should go viral. outside homes and in shops etc.
What about all the lights in the city for the non jewish holiday?
Should it have been 1 single ticket for the entire menorah , or perhaps a ticket for every light lit? What do Hilel and Shamai say about that??
It is illegal. Except that the cops in NYC let it go cuz they’re nice.
This isn’t a scandal
People have been putting up car menorahs for over a decade – and I’m talking about Monsey/Spring Valley itself (where the ticket was given). This is the first time I’ve ever heard of someone getting a ticket.
You people need to stop making every stupid thing “anti semitic” Jews need to also follow the laws, now you may have arguments regarding this case and about the specifics, but we don’t know it all to judge
I’d think he’d more quickly stop her for the menorah being a potential hazard if it fell
Off, same as of a tree was on top, or if one leave excess snow or ice on top of the car.
This is not anti Semitism
As we were driving around this chanuka I’ve been wondering if this ever happens. Sad reality.
Or. Hashem helping in the mitzva of Pirsumay Nisa. Now even more people – who might not have seen the car or known of it – now know of a menorah, etc. And the cost might be even less than the menorah itself. (I’m not minimizing the cost to the driver – just adding a perspective. Everything is perceived by how you frame it).
First he said the ticket was for unauthorised lights, but then excused his actions saying he would have ticketed someone for carrying a tree on the roof of their car. So is the ticket for the lights? Or the fact that they were on top of her car? Hmmm.
So why do police escort menorah parades? Is it law or is it an unspoken exception to the law? Or what?
This particular menorah does look a bit unsafe but that doesn’t give the right for a ticket
This definitely has an association with anti semetic for there was never a recorded instance in history (as far as I know) that a car with a menorah was ticketed
From the pics this is fairly huge, much larger than 99% of the car menoras I have seen out there. I think most of us are safe from tickets but not so much if such a large menora flies into your window at highway speed….
my husbands menorah flew off and broke the back windsheild