Rush to Replace Stolen Menorah

By Steve Rubenstein – SFGate

An emergency menorah was winging its way across the U.S. to San Francisco on Tuesday to replace the one that was stolen from Washington Square Park on the second day of Hanukkah.

It was something of a miracle, said Miryum Mochkin, executive director of the North Beach Chabad, a Jewish group, because that’s what Hanukkah is all about.

The new 6-foot-tall, wooden menorah — a one-of-a-kind fold-up model — was donated by the Massachusetts man who invented it. It’s called a “Menorah to Go” and its eight candlesticks collapse into one tight package, something like a lawn chair, for easy portability.

“This is a wonderful gift,” said Mochkin. “When you react to hate with love and light, people catch on. Good things happen.”

The stolen menorah — a steel candelabrum that cost about $1,000 — went missing Sunday not long before the faithful were to gather for the lighting of candles Nos. 1 and 2 to mark the second night of the eight-night festival.
Mochkin, calling an audible in the hours after the theft, urged worshipers to bring their own menorahs to the square Monday night for an impromptu show of support and candlepower. About 60 people, with 30 small menorahs, showed up. Mochkin led them in singing “Rock of Ages,” the “Dreidel Song” and other holiday hits.

Mochkin said she plans to erect the 6-foot-tall fold-up menorah in Washington Square on New Year’s Eve for another candle lighting to mark the eighth and final night of Hanukkah. On the theory of once-bitten-twice-shy, Mochkin said she will not tempt fate by leaving the fold-up menorah in the square overnight but will fold it up, as designed, and carry it under her arm back to Chabad headquarters on Columbus Avenue to foil any additional potential violators of the Eighth Commandment.

Police are continuing to search for the missing steel menorah. If it remains missing, Mochkin said her group plans to buy another one to replace it. She said her group does not believe in paying rewards for the return of stolen property, on religious principle, which is also part of Hanukkah.

The donor of the fold-up menorah, Mitch Bogart of Sharon, Mass., was moved after reading about the theft, Mochkin said. He designed and fabricated 10 of the fold-up menorahs in a Massachusetts woodworking shop.

“We make a lot of unusual stuff,” said Dovi Hirsch, co-owner of the shop. “Minotaurs. Dinosaurs. 3-D puzzles. This was our first menorah. It’s lightweight and very portable. I recommend they put a stake into the ground if they don’t want to lose another menorah.”