Menorah built from art destroyed on October 7 to be lit in Englewood

On December 26, at 5:30 p.m., a special menorah will be lit in downtown Englewood during a public celebration of Chanukah organized by Chabad.

The Englewood-Tenafly Coalition for Netiv HaAsara and the Moriah School built a menorah from art destroyed on October 7, 2023. The ceramic pieces covering the wooden menorah once were beautiful works of art made by Bilha Yinon of Netiv HaAsara, a moshav near Gaza. Bilha and her husband, Yaakov, were murdered on October 7. Their home, including Bilha’s ceramics studio in the back of the house, was burned, leaving ceramic shards all over the yard.

The home before October 7.

The menorah project was initiated by members of the Jewish communities in Englewood and Tenafly, who worked to help the members of the moshav rebuild their lives.

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As part of the Englewood-Tenafly and Netiv HaAsara partnership, and with the consent of the Yinon family, ceramic shards from the destroyed house were collected and sent to Englewood. The group reached out to Rabbi Daniel Alter, the head of the Moriah School, to create the menorah. Under the direction of art teacher Gila Bretter, Moriah students built the menorah by attaching the ceramic shards to a wooden base.

The menorah will commemorate Bilha and Yaakov Yinon and the other 18 members of Netiv HaAsara who were murdered on October 7, and the partnerships between the local communities, and that those local communities now share with Netiv HaAsara. For information, go to www.chabadenglewood.com or call 1 (929) 386-8892.