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The Menorah Project
It started with an idea . . . forged in bronze. Six men and women holding torches representing the six million victims of the Holocaust. A holy man in front clutching a prayer book. At the base, a cracked Star of David, inscribed with the years 1933-1945, along with the first few words of the Kaddish, the Jewish prayer for the dead.
The Menorah Project . . . a sculpture, an idea. An idea that embraces remembrance and reconciliation, and transcends them, illuminating the past to light the way to the future. Prominent Jewish leaders would present the sculpture to prominent Catholic leaders-beginning with the Vatican in Rome. A moving memorial transformed into a symbol of religious unity and joint commitment by Jews and Catholics to eradicate the stain of anti-Semitism from the face of the earth.
A Brief History
The idea began with Gunther Lawrence, Director of the Interreligious Information Center of New York City. This menorah was placed in Lawrence’s congregation, The Community Synagogue of Port Washington.
On April 13, 1999, a larger, heavier four foot high Menorah was placed in the garden of the Pontifical North American College in Vatican City. At the installation ceremony, Edward Cardinal Cassidy, President of the Holy Sees Commissions on Relations with the Jews, called for re-examing the past so we could learn its ethical and moral lessons and apply these to our lives and times. He was joined by other Catholic and Jewish leaders, including William Cardinal Keeler of Baltimore, Rabbi Jack Bemporad, Director of the Center for Interreligious Understand, U.S. Ambassador to the Vatican, Cindy Boggs, Israeli Ambassador to the Vatican, Aaron Lopez, former U.S. Ambassador to the Vatican, Thomas Melady, and Gunther Lawrence.
The following day, a specially cast one-foot high miniature was presented to Pope John Paul II at a moving ceremony in the Vatican piazza.
When presented with the Menorah, the Pope was told that the Interreligious Information center of New York City were going to place the large Menorah in Catholic Centers to enhance Catholic-Jewish relations and to commemorate the Holocaust.
Menorahs have been dedicated in Baltimore; Palm Beach; Miami, Seton Hall University; Huntington, LI; Dallas; Boston; Washington, DC and Pittsburg. |
