Officials in the Canadian city of Moncton, in the province of New Brunswick, have come under fire for their decision to cancel the annual menorah display at city hall, a move many say is blatantly anti-Jewish discrimination.
In an interview with the National Post, Francis Weil, president of the Moncton Jewish Community, criticized the rationale provided by Mayor Dawn Arnold, which cited a 2015 Supreme Court of Canada ruling against opening council meetings with prayer. Weil pointed out the inconsistency in the city’s stance, as X-mas decorations remain displayed on city hall grounds. “We are not talking about prayer. In the place where the menorah goes, there are a couple Christmas trees and a few angels,” he said.
The controversy surfaces amid a backdrop of increased antisemitism and anti-Israel demonstrations in Canada, with Weil noting pro-Hamas signs and slogans at weekly protests at Moncton city hall.
“That’s the first thing I told [the mayor], this is not the time to make this decision, because everyone will think you’re giving in,” Weil said. According to Weil, the mayor did not explicitly link the decision to the current tensions but mentioned a desire to avoid potential incidents at city hall.
National Jewish leaders have strongly condemned the decision. The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs voiced their disapproval on X, stating, “If some faith symbols are OK, but others are not, that’s discrimination. It’s not acceptable and must be immediately corrected.”
Michael Levitt, president and CEO of the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center, echoed these sentiments, saying the decision “reeks of discrimination.”
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6 Responses
Jews in galus… Jews in galus… as if we have any rights to be lighting manoros in govt areas! Nope, Jews are not just one of the crowd!
Headline is misleading, it sounds like city hall in NYC
Maybe I’m from Brooklyn and thinks the world ends at the verazano
Meir, why on earth would you think it meant NYC? Is this site based in NYC?! I doubt it. Just about every city in the world has a City Hall or a Town Hall, etc.
The thing is, a menorah has a religious meaning, while a tree does not. A tree is not a religious symbol, has no religious significance whatsoever, is not even derived from any Xian tradition or teaching, it’s completely secular. (As is the entire holiday, despite the religious veneer some Xian denominations have tried to put on it. At base it’s a secular holiday and the vast majority of those who celebrate it are not Xians.)
Milhouse, neither a tree nor a candelabra on their own have religious meaning. We, yidden make the candelabra into a menorah with which to celebrate Chanukah. L’havdil, the xtians took a secular evergreen tree and made it into a religious symbol to celebrate the religious holiday of x-mass.
[Granted it is held to have been previously a secular holiday, but they converted it into a religious holiday. This is like saying, l’havdil, the 25th of Kislev was a military victory and as such a “secular” celebration, which was converted the next year by Chazal into a religious holiday of Chanukah].
A quick Google search of “religious symbols of christmas” will show you the religious symbolism of the evergreen tree, the star, the tinsel, the lights and even the candy cane.
The public x-mas trees are not bare trees, but decorated with a star representing Yoshkeh, tinsel, lights, and often angels and even a manger etc. Even if a bare evergreen tree is a secular symbol. that argument fails when it is decorated with religious symbolism.
As a final note, if you believe it is truly a secular symbol, would you allow a xmas tree on your front lawn?! Even if you were offered a huge sum of money to allow it!
a christmas tree is a pagan religious symbol, adopted by christians as a christian religious symbol. what it has is no secular meaning.
Clearly this was an anti-Semitic decision. No doubt about it. Shameful!