Red Bank Mayor Billy Portman lights the Menorah in Riverside Gardens Park.
Jews and supporters from the Greater Red Bank Green gathered in Riverside Gardens Park for a traditional Menorah lighting on the fifth night of Hanukkah Monday night.
Organized by Rabbi Dovid Harrison of Congregation Beth Shalom, the event occurred against a backdrop of rising antisemitism, a speaker told the gathering of several dozen attendees.
Rabbis Renee Edelman, above, and Dovid Harrison, below addressing the gathering. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
“This year has been incredibly difficult for Jews across the world,” with an 800-percent increase in antisemitic incidents in the United States since the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, said Rabbi Renee Edelman, of Monmouth Reform Temple in Tinton Falls.
“And yet, I want to tell you that I feel safe, that i feel proud in my Judaism, and that I wear my kippah wherever I go, and the only thing that people have asked is where I get my kippot from because they like the colors.
“As Jews, we realize that the most important thing is not only to stand together, but to stand with others who are persecuted,” she said.
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