A Pandemic Hanukkah Celebration: 25 Menorah-Topped Cars to Parade Through Gallatin Valley
A pandemic cannot stop the light.
Due to the ongoing spread of Covid-19, the Jewish community can’t celebrate Hanukkah with its annual community parties and indoor events, but that won’t stop them from spreading the light and warmth of the holiday throughout Bozeman and Belgrade with a first ever Menorah car parade.
The parade will depart from the home of Rabbi Chaim Bruk on the eastside of town and make its way westward along Main Street-Huffine Lane, turning North on Jackrabbit, East on Broadway-Frontage Road in Belgrade and eventually heading South on 19th, ending one hour later, at Bogert Park. “It’s not easy to celebrate holidays as a community when indoor programming is very limited and the winter weather makes it really tough to stay outside for too long”, said Chavie Bruk, co-CEO of Chabad Lubavitch, who is organizing the event, “but we don’t surrender. We think out of the box and come up with ideas that can be done together joyfully yet totally safely” Bruk said.
art by Linnaea Mallette
The parade will take place on the seventh night of Chanukah, December 16, 2020 beginning at 5:30 PM. The parade is part of the worldwide Hanukkah campaign launched by the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory, in 1973. The campaign highlights and encourages the central theme of the holiday—publicizing the story of the Hanukkah miracle and the victory of light over darkness, a message of hope greatly needed today. In the decades since the Rebbe’s Hanukkah awareness campaign began it has revitalized widespread observance of the Festival of Lights and brought it to the mainstream, returning what some have mistakenly dismissed as a minor holiday to its roots as a public proclamation of the ultimate triumph of freedom over oppression.
This year has seen illness, death, quarantine, closures and business collapses, all amidst an overwhelming sense of sheer confusion and despair. In light of this heightened sense of urgency to share the message, spirit and hope of Hanukkah, the Chabad-Lubavitch movement worldwide is preparing the largest Hanukkah awareness campaign in history.
This year’s global campaign will see Chabad reach 8 million Jews in more than 100 countries. With safety measures limiting many in-person gatherings, Chabad will erect some 15,000 large public menorahs, which will be seen by millions on streets and public squares around the world, including in front of landmarks such as the White House, the Eiffel Tower, the Kremlin and on Bozeman’s Main Street and the Livingston Depot.
Chabad-organized menorah parades will see over 6,500 Hanukkah menorah-topped cars hit the road, bringing the Hanukkah message of hope and joy through the city and into residential neighborhoods, allowing families to safely share the joy and light of Hanukkah with pride. With many events curtailed, others opting for a drive-in model and many people isolating, Chabad’s three Montana branches in Bozeman, Missoula and Kalispell will help families bring the light and celebration of Hanukkah into their homes and will distribute Hanukkah candles, menorah kits, traditional Kosher Latkes and Donuts and holiday guides.
To join the parade, email rabbi@jewishmontana.com or call 406-585-8770. •
