February 18, 2020

Harvard Chabad Menorah Knocked Over on First Night of Hanukkah

BY Aaron Bandler | Dec 4, 2018 | Nation

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:

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”:

The police are looking into the incident as a possible hate crime. The investigation remains ongoing.

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