A small crowd gathered at the foot of Town Hall Hill in Stanfordville on Wednesday, Dec. 17, for an outdoor Hanukkah celebration that blended candlelight, song, and neighborly love, turning a cold winter evening into a moment of collective warmth.
A large menorah was lit, each candle kindled by a different community member. As the flames flickered into the night, attendees sang traditional Hanukkah songs, their voices cutting through the darkness as neighbors stood shoulder to shoulder against the cold.
Plates of latkes and jam-filled donuts were shared among the crowd, and conversations unfolded easily as children and adults greeted one another, savoring the simple pleasure of community.
For Pine Plains resident Rachel Greenfield, the annual gathering captured the meaning of the holiday.
“The importance of celebrating Hanukkah is to publicly shine a light of faith and hope into the darkness, that’s what Hanukkah is about,” Greenfield said. “To be able to do anything with your community is a wonderful thing. Having latkes and donuts outside in the cold with your community is a wonderful thing.”
The celebration took place amid heightened awareness of antisemitic violence, including a deadly attack during Hanukkah celebrations in Sydney, Australia on Dec. 14.
The event was guarded by troopers from the New York State Police as well as the Dutchess County Sheriff’s Department.
Rabbi Hanoch Hecht of the Rhinebeck Jewish Center addressed the crowd.
“We light the menorah, light up the darkness of the world so people see, and people can treat each other the way they should be treated with love, respect, and kindness. Of course, making sure that everybody feels safe and we thank the state troopers and the sheriff’s department for being here this evening,” Hecht said. “We feel safe even without them being here. But the fact that they’re here, makes us feel even safer and we know preventive policing is the most important type of policing.”
After the songs were sung and the food finished, the crowd gradually thinned. Children lingered, running and playing in the parking lot as the candles burned down, marking another year of community and light.