Official State of Ohio Menorah Dedicated to the Rebbe
On the first day of Chanukah, Monday, December 15, Governor Mike DeWine welcomed the official state of Ohio Menorah.
by COLlive Editor · COLliveOn the first day of Chanukah, Monday, December 15, Governor Mike DeWine welcomed the official state of Ohio Menorah.
This Menorah is unique not only because it is crafted from pure bronze, molded into the shape of Ohio, with a Buckeye tree at its center, but because of its story.
The Official Ohio Menorah was created by artist Hendel Futerfas, whose great-grandfather, Reb Mendel Futerfas, endured nine brutal years in a Gulag for the crime of spreading Yiddishkeit under communism.
That same courage and selflessness echoed in the lives of Rabbi Eli Schlanger and Rabbi Yaakov Levitan, Chabad Shluchim who were tragically gunned down in Sydney on the first night of Chanukah simply for bringing the joy and light of Chanukah to thousands.
“What unites Reb Mendel Futerfas, Rabbi Eli Schlanger and Rabbi Yaakov Levitan is that their entire lives were dedicated to the Rebbe. It is in honor of the Rebbe that the official Ohio Menorah was dedicated to,” said Areyah Kaltmann.
The official Ohio Menorah will stand permanently in the Ohio Governor’s residence as a salute to the Rebbe and his Shluchim who keep the Rebbe’s flame burning forever.
The Ohio Menorah was lit by Rabbi Shlomo Elkan from Chabad of Oberlin.
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