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HERALD ReCORD
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Your Weekly Pet Column
The Story Of Holiday Lights
Inside
Page 5
VOL. 130 NO. 1
The Local Sports Scene Page 6
JANUARY 1-7, 2025
$1.00
All cheer Babylon’s holiday event By CHRISTIE LEIGH BABIRAD cbabirad@liherald.com
Despite frigid temperatures, the Town of Babylon’s annual Holiday Lights and Market attracted large crowds on Dec. 13 and 14. Attendees bundled up against the cold to enjoy what has become one of the town’s largest light displays. “The Parks Department does a great job turning the holidays into a festive and joyful time for residents to appreciate the beautiful work of our Public Works and Parks departments,” said Babylon Town Supervisor Rich Schaffer. Christie Leigh Babirad/Herald
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Danny Canales with his wife Mercedes and children Jade and Wesley.
Amityville Village celebrates first night of Chanukah By CAROLYN JAMES cjames@liherald.com The Village of Amityville gathered to celebrate the first night of Chanukah with the lighting of the Menorah at the Village Triangle, Dec. 25. Mayor Dennis Siry and his wife Nancy, along with Village Trustees Michael O’Neill and Owen Brooks gathered with neighbors and friends to share in the ceremony. They joined in as Amityville Men’s Shop owner Warren Cohn said the Chanukah prayer lighting the candle. He pointed out the significance of the
menorah to the children and adults in attendance. Chanukah is Judaism’s “festival of lights.” On eight consecutive nightfalls, Jews gather with family and friends to light one candle in the menorah —a multibranched candelabra. In Hebrew, Chanukah means “dedication,” and
the holiday marks the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem in the 2nd century BC, after a small group of Jewish fighters liberated it from occupying foreign forces. With the tiny supply of ritually pure oil that they found in the temple, they lit the menorah — and it stayed lit for eight days. The ritual of
lighting a nightly candle, as well as the emphasis on cooking foods in oil such as potato pancakes called latkes, memorialize this miraculously long-lasting oil. The dates of the holiday are based on Hebrew month of Kislev, which usually coincides with November-DecemCONTINUED ON PAGE 10