The Chabad House at Harvard’s menorah was knocked over on Sunday, the first night of Hanukkah, an incident that is reportedly being investigated as a hate crime.
At around 3:30 p.m., reportedly a white man who was dressed in black, allegedly pushed over the menorah at Cambridge Common and then pedaled away on his black bicycle.
Right after the incident occurred, a group of people proceeded to put the menorah back up:
Walking past Cambridge Common today w @itsmejono, we saw the park menorah on the ground. 2 young women had witnessed a young man on a bike push it over with intent. We gathered some strangers to help us put it back up. Then the older, Jewish gentleman said a Hanukkah prayer. pic.twitter.com/dm5oX0aX0I
— lillian — Lillianmcq @ project 🍄 (@lillian) December 2, 2018
Rabbi Hirschy Zarchi from the Harvard Chabad told CBS Boston, “That is very much the story of Hanukkah where it was a few people who came together and to triumph over the darkness and to demonstrate love can overpower hate and good can overpower evil and that’s exactly what they did.”
Cambridge Mayor Marc McGovern denounced the toppling of the menorah as “an act of hatred” in a statement.
“What might otherwise be described as an act of violence fits into a chilling and all-too intentional pattern of hatred and bias-motivated violence that is visible at the national and local level,” McGovern said. “Even more disturbing, national leaders and outlets serves as platforms for supremacist and nativist ideas, whether passively or actively. That their rhetoric gives way to violent acts is predictable and unacceptable.”
The Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL) New England chapter thanked McGovern in a tweet and called the menorah toppling “unacceptable”:
Unacceptable! Desecrating a menorah warrants hate crime investigation. TY @Cambridge_Mayor for calling like it out. Religious freedom means all faiths have to right to pray & celebrate without fear or intimidation. https://t.co/WYSejCiU3B
— ADL New England (@ADL_NewEngland) December 3, 2018
The police are looking into the incident as a possible hate crime. The investigation remains ongoing.
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