In a year where the concert quality ante was raised exponentially by Taylor Swift and her record-shattering Eras Tour, The Village Synagogue of West Hollywood took a cue and went all in with their annual Hanukkah bash. No, this event was not held over the course of six nights at SoFi Stadium. But what this young and mighty synagogue pulled off at Pan Pacific Park on December 11th was truly spectacular.
The Village Synagogue held their 2023 Menorah Lighting Ceremony at Pan Pacific Park, making it truly an open-invitation gathering for the townspeople in a public place. And before the show even began, to approach the neighborhood that night, you could tell something special was about to happen.
From miles away, you could see that there were eight laser lights beaming thousands of feet into the cloudy Los Angeles sky over the area just east of The Grove. Kudos to the engineers at Voltlites for the setup.
While approaching Pan Pacific Park, artificial smoke and cobalt-blue light emanated, and a track of a Matisyahu song was playing. Along the sidewalks surrounding the park, the townspeople approached the security perimeter— gaggles of rambunctious youth, families with strollers and dogs, the elderly folks with walkers, and young professionals attending the first of several first of several Hanukkah events they’ll go to that night.
The location felt safe but not fortified. There was meaning to be found in every direction. To the north, a reminder of how dark the world can be—the Holocaust Museum L.A. To the south, Park La Brea—a planned residential community that was described to the Journal by a resident as “squalid masquerading as luxury.” To the west, the holiday bustle and hustle at The Grove shopping center. To the east, a community of homes and shops in one of the most Jewish neighborhoods in town.
Earlier this year, Pan Pacific Park was truly a site of light triumphing over darkness. Arson destroyed the playground in the summer of 2022. Less than a year later, the playground was fully rebuilt and with financing from a generous neighbor, Michael Hackman, the owner of Television City studios, two blocks from the park.
Even an hour before the show began, there was an energy in the area that already far exceeded The Village Synagogue’s event from 2022. Last year’s event was held at The Grove’s “town square” ( or whatever they call the always-overcrowded trolley track/water fountain chokepoint of shoppers and tourists). Then, singer Nissim Black performed, TikTok star Montana Tucker addressed the crowd, The Grove’s owner and recently-defeated mayoral candidate Rick Caruso gave a warm message, and 100-year-old Holocaust survivor Joe Alexander had the crowd’s jaws agape. The packed crowd danced, sang, and I have a vague recollection of someone crowd surfing. So a few weeks ago, when Rabbi Zalmy and Chana Fogelman contacted the Journal to attend and cover their synagogue’s menorah lighting event this year, I told him that last year’s event may have been the most fun I’ve had at a Hanukkah party in my adult life.
The concert opened with Kosha Dillz, fresh off a plane from Israel. Along with DJ Erez Safar, Dillz’ kicked off his opening song with a defiant jump kick from the drum platform. The first song of the night, “Hanukkah Song 3.0” is a faster-tempo remix of Adam Sandler’s hits, and had the crowd of at least 2,000 bouncing.
Next up was Israeli pop star Idan Raichel with his calming yet breathy piano pop tunes. From the side of the stage, I could see there were multiple people in the front rows brought to tears by his voice as he sang “Me’cha’ke (Waiting).” While doing a piano interlude, Raichel took a verbal swipe at the Red Cross and the secretary General of the United Nations.
Hasidic folk soul band Zusha played the longest set of the night, which included the song had the crowd fired up with their apropos song, “Hanukkah Is Here” with the hook, “It’s dark outside but it’s light in here.”
There were also remarks by one of the two Jewish members of the Los Angeles City Council, Katy Yaroslavsky, as well as Israel Bachar, Consulate General of Israel in Los Angeles.
Actor Ben Savage, a candidate for U.S. Congress for California’s 30th District, led an impassioned charge to the crowd.
“Hang your mezuzahs up, let’s raise our voices not in fear, but in pride and solidarity,” Savage told the crowd. “Our response to adversity is not to hide but to stand taller together. So tonight let’s remember our light will never be dimmed.”
Before Zusha closed out the night with a second set, there were impassioned speeches, and none more powerful than that of Danielle Sasi. The crowd of thousands was silent as Danielle Sasi, with her husband by her side, shared her horrific story of surviving the NOVA Music festival.
“We ask you to spread the light and be the light,” Sasi said in her speech. Rabbi Fogelman echoed a similar sentiment when he spoke, saying “light will always overcome darkness.”
To call the night merely “The Menorah Lighting hosted by Village Synagogue” would be an understatement. By the time the night five candles were lit on stage, it was already much, much more.
“Tonight went really well,” Zusha frontman Shlomo Gaisin told the Journal after the show. “Thank G-d it was so nice to play music with my brother, my friend [and Zusha guitarist] Zach Goldschmiedt and with all these talented musicians, and more importantly, to play music for such an amazing crowd, a collection of so many different people from all walks of life over here in California and from all sorts of Jewish backgrounds. And I’m grateful and it was beautiful to sing some of our own original music and some traditional holiday music and just togetherness music. In times like these music is such a strong way to come together and come together for the sake of light, come together for unity and for peace. So it’s really harmonious for me.”
For many in attendance at The Village Synagogue’s annual Hanukkah bash, it would be the last concert of 2023 that they’d attend. This young synagogue (founded in 2016) raised the bar for what it means to drown out darkness with light in a community yearning to believe better days lay ahead.
And it reinforced that for many young concertgoers, if you’re going to throw a concert in 2024, it better look and feel as cool as the music sounds. Looking back, with the turmoil in Israel, the Jewish community worldwide seemed to feel an obligation to make the light of Hanukkah 2023 last far beyond the requisite eight nights into 2024 and beyond.
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