The 30-foot tall national Chanukah menorah is standing in Lafayette Park across from the White House for the fourth consecutive year. Rabbi Abraham Shemtov, director of the American Friends of Lubavitch which sponsors the menorah, said he has been told that before the menorah went up, many Jews had complained that there were no symbols of Chanukah at prominent sites in Washington, only the national Christmas tree which faces the other side of the White House. He said he was told that the menorah gives Jewish children “a source of pride, ” particularly after the recent rash of swastika doublings on area synagogues.
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