Center For Jewish Life in Sag Harbor Creates Unity Menorah

Center For Jewish Life – Chabad in Sag Harbor has organized a fun and meaningful community activity, both in-person and virtual, with their Unity Menorah, a special group project presented in the lead up to their grand Chanukah party on Sunday, December 25 from 4–6 p.m.

“Out of Many One,” the center writes, adding, “Great things happen when we come together for the greater good” and explaining that the Unity Menorah highlights this idea. Made of collective brushstrokes painted onto a huge, 10-foot-wide canvas hanging at Center For Jewish Life in Sag Harbor, or online at unitymenorah.com, the Unity Menorah allows everyone to add a bit of color and personality to the whole image of a menorah with nine candles in place and lit.

In addition to adding a brushstroke and signature in real life this Sunday, December 11 from noon–2 p.m. and Sunday, December 18 from noon–2 p.m., participants can also make their mark virtually by utilizing cutting-edge technology at the Unity Menorah website, thus opening the project to a global audience.

Virtual Unity Menorah

The tools on the site allow participants to draw with several brush sizes and a wide color palette, along with an eraser with different sizes, and the ability to switch between colors and brushes, as well as undoing or redoing marks as you go along. A second box is set up to add your signature and any message you’d like to share. It’s quite fun and make you feel a part of something bigger, literally making your mark!

“This year on the Jewish calendar is known as the year of Hakhel – Unity. It so happens to fall out following a two-year period of COVID which brought a lot of loneliness to people,” Rabbi Berel (Chaim Dovber) Lerman, director of Center For Jewish Life, says.

“The Unity Menorah seeks to highlight the importance of coming together. The menorah symbolizes the triumph of good versus evil and light over darkness. The world can sometimes seem like a dark and lonely place, by adding even a little bit of light and goodness one has the ability to dispel much darkness,” he continues, adding, “The Unity Menorah project utilizing art and technology enables us to come together in a very unique way highlighting the importance of unity and creating together a symbol of light.”

The Unity Menorah project is also raising awareness for the Building for a Brighter Tomorrow Campaign, which seeks to secure a permanent home for Center For Jewish Life in Sag Harbor.

The Unity Menorah design is overseen by artist Nathan Slate Joseph, a renowned steel sculptor.

To take part in the virtual Unity Menorah, visit unitymenorah.com and scroll down until you find the instructions.

Center For Jewish Life – Chabad in Sag Harbor, at 24 Long Island Avenue, is a place for community and the arts, as demonstrated so beautifully by this Unity Menorah.

Call 631-938-6202, email info@cfjewishlife.com, or visit cfjewishlife.com