Menorah vandalised at Ivy League college
An outdoor menorah on the campus of Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, was vandalised on the seventh night of Chanukah.
Rabbi Moshe Gray, who runs the Chabad centre on the Ivy League college campus, said that he discovered seven of the menorah’s electric lights had been shot and damaged by a pellet gun as he prepared to turn it on for the seventh night. A nearby Christmas tree was left unharmed, he noted, indicating that the menorah was likely deliberately targeted. There are around 400 Jewish students at Dartmouth out of a total of 4,000.
Rabbi Gray reportedly said that “it was pretty shocking” to realise somebody deliberately shot the menorah.
Dartmouth President Philip Hanlon said that the vandalism was “an affront to all.” In a letter, he said: “To the Jewish members of our community…we stand with you in anger and sadness at this despicable act, which is much more than vandalism or a prank…”
This is the latest in a string of antisemitic incidents in the United States during Chanukah.
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Image credit: Rabbi Moshe Gray