Jersey City menorah lighting honors hero cops in shooting at kosher deli
JERSEY CITY, New Jersey (WABC) -- A Hanukkah celebration was held Sunday at the kosher supermarket that was at the center of the Jersey City shootout.
The menorah lighting honored Officers Raymond Sanchez and Mariela Fernandez, who were injured while heroically responding to the scene.
Officer Sanchez, New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal, Chabad-Lubavitch Rabbi Moshe Schapiro and other members of the Jersey City Hasidic community attended the lighting in front of the supermarket where the fatal shooting took place.
Cantor Yoely Greenfeld, brother of shooting victim Mindy Ferencz, chanted the blessings and sang traditional Hanukkah songs.
"In the face of great darkness, our answer is an increase in light," said Schapiro, who co-directs Chabad of Hoboken and Jersey City. "And what better time for this message than Hanukkah, when we celebrate the triumph of light over darkness, and freedom of religion over tyranny and hate."
The public menorah lighting was part of the worldwide Hanukkah campaign, an initiative 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.
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