Chabad Center of Oakland celebrating resilience, hope with new menorah for Hanukkah

OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) -- A sign of resilience and hope on proud display outside of the Chabad Jewish Center of Oakland.

"And this was the sign that was in the lake, it was floating in the lake when we found it," said Rabbi Dovid Labkowski, director of the Chabad Jewish Center of Oakland.

This is the same menorah that was destroyed and thrown into Lake Merritt during Chanukah last year.

"We were able to get some great volunteers locally here to put together piece by piece just the way it was," Labkowski said.

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Rabbi Labkowski has been the director of the Chabad Center for 18 years.

But in the last year, he says antisemitism has grown.

Over the summer, at least one person was caught on camera throwing rocks at the center's windows on multiple occasions.

Since then, the center has replaced windows and installed new security cameras and a metal vestibule.

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"Once you get access to the first door, then you get questioned again, then you go through the second door, so it's an extra layer of protection," he said.

The vandals were never caught, but Rabbi Labkowski says police investigated each incident as a possible hate crime.

In the year after the October 7, 2023 attack in Israel, the Anti-Defamation League reported more than 10,000 antisemitic incidents across the United States.

"It's very sad and it's definitely been a very difficult year," he said. "I think it's even more important this year to show your Jewish pride, show the pride of lightness over darkness, show the pride of this beautiful Oakland symbol of the menorah and then show that we're not going to back down, I think that's a very powerful message."

Thanks to community donations collected last year, Rabbi Labkowski also ordered a second menorah to tower over Lake Merritt at 15 feet tall.

Labkowski is inviting the entire community to come out for the lighting of the fifth candle of that brand new menorah on Sunday night at 4:30 p.m. at Lake Merritt.

"The fifth candle is that tipping point, five out of the eight lights which shows even at the darkest moments, we have more light than dark," he said.

For more details about Sunday night's menorah lighting, click here.