Blog: CREME DE LA KRIM

A week before Chanukah we got permission to put up our “big” public menorah on a plaza in the center of town, where it usually stands during Chanukah.  I immediately called the man whose firm has always put the menorah up for us, and he arranged for a crane to pick up the menorah from the school, and set it up. 

The menorah is constructed of a triangular base, a long stem, and the actual menorah, on top.  For some reason, even though they’ve been doing this for years already, this year they accidentally attached the middle section upside-down, resulting in the menorah standing only 6 meters tall, instead of its usual 9 meters.  By the time we saw this, the crane was gone, and there wasn’t a possibility of changing it.  The crane had been sent to work out of town, and we couldn’t find another one right away.  Obviously we were disappointed, but there wasn’t much we could do. 

The first evening of Chanukah arrived.  We had found another company with a “cherry-picker,” and signed a contract with them to come help us light the menorah every evening of Chanukah.  3:30, theappointed time, came and went.  No cherry-picker.  We called the company and were informed that they were really sorry, but a vital part of the machine had just broken, and they wouldn’t be able to get the part and repair it for over a week.  Everyone, including the news reporters, was there, but no cherry-picker!  We ran into the nearby bank and asked if they might have a very tall ladder that we could use.  They informed us that the tallest ladder they had stood – are you ready?  -- just under 6 meters tall!  If the menorah had been 9 meters tall, as it had always been in the past, we would not have been able to light it!  Frankly, my heart was in my throat, as my husband mounted the shaky ladder to light the menorah.  The next day, the non-Jewish guard in the bank said to me “Why did the rabbi have to climb up the menorah himself to light the menorah?  I looked out and saw him way up on the ladder and felt terrible – I would have done it for him!”  Everyone was very impressed that we just don’t give up. They had been sure that there was no way to light the menorah.   Just like with our other difficulties on our shlichus here, we will hang in here, till Hashem sends us another miracle – this time, G-d willing, a whopper of a big miracle, which we really need!