Menorah is vandalized at U. of Florida

GAINESVILLE, Fla., — A Hanukkah menorah at the University of Florida was vandalized during the weekend, said a leader of Hillel, a Jewish student organization.

Members of Hillel discovered Saturday that the candelabra had been thrown down and its oil lamps damaged, Joshua Kahn, the group’s Israel program director, told The Gainesville Sun.

Kahn said the damage to the candelabra was extensive enough to appear to be deliberate vandalism rather than the wind knocking it over.

Kahn said the vandalism came after about 10 people were seen saying “[expletive] the Jews” and kicking over a fence on the property Friday night.

“I’m hoping that it wasn’t anti-Semitism and it’s just a bunch of drunk kids,” he said.

Hillel planned a menorah rededication ceremony Monday night. Kahn said that was fitting, since Hanukkah commemorates the rededication of the desecrated Second Temple in Jerusalem 2,175 years ago.

“We thought it would be very fitting that we would have a rededication of the menorah and show that in the face of intolerance, we’re still here,” he said.