With some 20,000 Jewish residents and dozens of public menorahs provided by Chabad-Lubavitch centers scattered across the borough, Brooklyn, N.Y., would, at first glance, have more than enough to go around. But that hasn't stopped two rabbis from waging a battle – in all respects, friendly – over whose menorah is biggest.
Rabbi Ari Raskin and his uncle, Rabbi Shimon Hecht, the leaders of Chabad of Brooklyn Heights and Chabad of Park Slope, respectively, each drew throngs of onlookers to their public menorah lightings this week. Raskin held his in front of downtown Brooklyn's courthouse, while Hecht opted for the Grand Army Plaza.
The official moniker of the Park Slope menorah is "Brooklyn's Biggest." But at the Dec. 4 lighting at the courthouse Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz dubbed Raskin's "Brooklyn's Tallest."
In truth, each is about the same height at roughly 30 feet. Provisions in Jewish law limit a menorah's vertical dimensions at 32 feet.
And yet, the battle continues, although Park Slope's menorah is officially 29 feet tall, and plans sitting on Raskin's desk in his fourth-floor office at Congregation B'nai Avraham pin the height of Brooklyn Height's menorah at closer to 30 feet.
Stepping back a bit from the good-natured rivalry – both Chabad centers were established by the late Lubavitch activist Rabbi Jacob J. Hecht, director of the National Committee for the Furtherance of Jewish Education, father of Park Slope's rabbi and grandfather of Raskin – Markowitz said that "here in Brooklyn, we must remember how fortunate we are to enjoy the freedom that millions around the world still seek."
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