Malvern Central: there will be lights
CHANUKAH decorations will be on display at Malvern Central Shopping Centre in Melbourne, despite initial concerns that the festival would not be acknowledged.
DALIA SABLE
CHANUKAH decorations will be on display at Malvern Central Shopping Centre in Melbourne, despite initial concerns that the festival would not be acknowledged.
Chabad House of Malvern’s Rabbi Reuvi Cooper approached the mall with plans to erect a chanukiah and arrange a candle-lighting ceremony and activities at the venue, but management initially delayed a decision, citing a lack of space.
“We have a totally different floor plan to past years with new tenants … more active casual leasing and practically every square inch leased out,” Malvern Central’s marketing manager, Rachel Armstrong, told The AJN. “We wanted to have decorations, but literally didn’t have the space.”
Armstrong said Rabbi Cooper’s plan to arrange a candle-lighting ceremony and activities could not be realistically accommodated, but that the centre was “delighted” by the prospect of erecting a prominent chanukiah on level three of the complex.
Following an initially hesitant response from Malvern Central, Rabbi Cooper approached the Jewish Community Council of Victoria (JCCV) who, with the support of the Victorian Multicultural Commission (VMC), discussed the matter with senior management to ensure a suitable outcome was reached. They agreed to place Chanukah decorations alongside the centre’s Christmas paraphernalia.
“This result is a win-win for all parties and a powerful affirmation of multiculturalism and religious freedom in Victoria,” JCCV executive director Geoffrey Zygier said.
George Lekakis, chairperson of the VMC, said most councils and centres are “accommodating” of other faith and cultures and, in particular, of “a host of festivals and events that denote specific holidays and days of religious importance”.
“It’s about getting the right balance between accommodating old and new,” Lekakis told The AJN. “Sense, accommodation and mutual respect is the way forward.”
Armstrong said she hoped the Jewish festival could be “integrated” into the centre’s celebrations next year, pointing to the Rosh Hashanah programs that the mall ran this year.
She said approaching the shopping centre earlier in the year would allow for a more extensive display in the future, adding that Christmas plans are organised months in advance. Armstrong continued that the centre had not been formally approached to display Chanukah decorations in the past few years, with centre management putting up its own ornaments, alongside Christmas trimmings.
In other Chanukah news, Prahran Market this week erected a 15-foot chanukiah to mark the Festival of Lights.
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