Talia Barton

Students and community members gathered in Wilder Bowl last Sunday night for the Grand Menorah Lighting Ceremony sponsored by Chabad at Oberlin. The event opened with remarks from President Carmen Ambar, followed by an a cappella performance by the Obertones. Rabbi Shlomo Elkan lit the menorah and led the crowd in three Hanukkah prayers. The event provided an opportunity for members of the Jewish community and others to celebrate the first night of Hanukkah. “As an Oberlin student, I’m often really busy with my classes and other commitments and I don’t make practicing religion a priority,” College senior Juliet Flam-Ross said, “but it was a really amazing feeling to be walking into the library to work on a paper and run into a Jewish practice that made me feel like I was home.” Attendees were encouraged to bring gently used books for Chabad’s People of the Book project, an effort that donates books to people incarcerated in Lorain County.