Long Beach officials, rabbis unite at City Hall menorah lighting after overseas attack
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Summary
Mayor Richardson and local rabbis led Long Beach’s annual menorah lighting at City Hall, framed this year by solidarity after a deadly attack in Sydney; speakers thanked first responders, called for denouncing hate speech and lit the menorah in a ceremonial program.
Long Beach City Hall hosted its annual Hanukkah menorah lighting, where Mayor Richardson and local rabbis used the ceremony to express solidarity with victims of a recent attack in Sydney and to urge the city to stand against antisemitism.
Rabbi Fineland opened the event and “thanked the mayor” before Mayor Richardson addressed the crowd, thanking Jewish Long Beach, Temple Israel, and local police and firefighters for their presence. Richardson invoked the Martin Luther King Jr. line that “darkness cannot drive out darkness. Only light can do that,” and described the lighting as “a sign of unity” and inclusion. The mayor also said, “We have about 35, 36,000 Jewish households in the city,” as part of remarks highlighting the community’s contributions.
The mayor and rabbis repeatedly connected the local ceremony to violent events abroad. Rabbi Fineland noted recent violence at a menorah lighting in Bondi Beach and framed the Long Beach gathering as a refusal to be intimidated: “We will not cave in. We will not be intimidated, and we’re gonna come out even stronger than before,” he said.
Rabbi Newman led the formal lighting portion and urged officials and the public to denounce hateful speech. “Hate speech is not harmless. It is the destructive seed that leads directly to physical violence,” he said, calling on elected officials to act before rhetoric escalates into violence.
Rabbi Fox thanked city leaders and law enforcement for their partnership in keeping congregations and public gatherings safe, and emphasized both physical and emotional security that community partnerships can provide.
The program included a personal testimony from Rabbi Fineland describing a man who reconsidered suicide after encountering a menorah celebration; the anecdote was offered as an example of the menorah’s message of hope and light. Mayor Richardson invited community leaders to take part in the ceremonial lighting: he led the initial countdown and lit the shamash, and representatives from Jewish Long Beach and the Jewish Federation were called forward to light the subsequent candles.
The event closed with holiday greetings, refreshments and a group photo; Mayor Richardson also reminded attendees that the city’s State of the City is scheduled for Jan. 13.
(Attendance and precise turnout figures were not specified in the transcript; the mayor’s household figure was reported in his remarks as spoken.)
