Pillars of Light illuminates the Melbourne CBD
Celebrating Chanukah in Melbourne’s CBD
Pillars of Light, presented by the Ark Centre, brightened up Melbourne’s CBD celebrating Chanukah for five nights in Federation Square. This is the fifth year Pillars of Light has graced the city, and from December 25 to December 30, each night featured prominent guests, donuts, joyful music before the lighting of the menorah.
There is a custom of celebrating Chanukah in public view to affirm Jewish identity, and Pillars of Light embraces this tradition, providing a welcoming environment for people of Jewish and non-Jewish faith to come together and build cultural bridges.
On the sixth night of Chanukah and the last night of Pillars of Light on Monday, the Ark Centre’s Rabbi Gabi Kaltmann thanked the crowd for attending and for taking a stand against antisemitism.
“Chanukah is the festival of light and tonight we hope to light up Fed Square, light up our hearts, draw a line in the sand and say enough is enough, we are sick and tired of seeing people getting away with bullying, intolerance, racism and antisemitism,” he said.
“Pillars of Light… is about tolerance and respect, basic Australian concepts. We are here to champion multiculturalism and to find commonality between our faiths, cultures and backgrounds. That’s why we are so honoured that you are here you celebrate Chanukah with us, to support the Jewish community, as over the past 15 months it has been an incredibly tough time.”
Guest speakers at Pillars of Light included new leader of Victorian Liberals Brad Battin MP, David Southwick MP, Assistant Minister for Multicultural Affairs Julian Hill and Senator James Paterson, Chairperson of Victorian Multicultural Commission Vivienne Nguyen, and co-founder of Never Again is Now Mark Leach. There were also captivating music performances by Dov Farkas with Simon & Adam Starr, Wala is Life, Alma Zygier, Noa Coates & Ines Gotmaker, Driu Fijian Dance Group, Fifth of Nisan, Ostralishe Kapelye, Segal & Glass, Vocal Vibes, National Boy’s Choir, Ha Lev Choir, Mon & B, DJ Yishai and Rabbi Rhythm DJ.
Pillars of Light was supported by the Victorian State Government, Gandel Foundation, Pratt Foundation, Jack and Robert Smorgon Family Foundation, City of Melbourne, Erdi Foundation and Federation Square.