DETROIT – You can expect a beefed-up police presence downtown on Thursday night for the lighting of the Menorah in the D as increased threats have been made to the Metro Detroit Jewish community.
Thursday’s (Dec. 6) event will be the 13th annual Menorah in the D celebration, and there is a lot of confidence all will be well.
Rabbi Kasriel Shemtov of Chabad Lubavitch of Michigan, who is organizing the event, told Local 4 Wednesday afternoon that there would be a festive atmosphere despite concerns that protests might also be part of the event.
Menorah in the D is always a festive celebration with food, drinks, dancing, and smiles. But because of the Oct. 7 massacre in Israel and the war that’s raged since, Shemtov believes we need Hannukah more than ever.
“Hannukah tells us to go and take a candle and find within your heart in your reservoir in your soul, and you can light up the world, you can hug someone, you can do a mitzvah,” said Shemtov.
Yet there is the specter of pro-Palestinian protests. Many have disrupted public events recently, yet the rabbi is unconcerned about Thursday’s event.
“Someone protests, you know that’s a protest, but you know we’re still going to celebrate, and we’ll be able to celebrate Hannukah,” Shemtov said.
Detroit police say they’re on the lookout, and they’re ready. The Detroit Police Department Assistant Chief Charles Fitzgerald said the city will implement its high-security event protocols.
“We’ll have three entry points to go into the event, we’ll have three involved systems, it does not require any other issue, just walking through,” said Fitzgerald. We will not be holding anything up.”
Fitzgerald says the police intelligence unit hasn’t seen any indication there will be a protest, but no one is taking anything for granted.
“During the Thanksgiving parade, we had a very minor contingency of folks that came through who wanted to protest, but we took care of it right away, so we’re ready for anything,” Fitzgerald said.
The event starts Thursday at 5 p.m., and the rabbi says Hannukah is for everyone and invites everyone to come and enjoy the event he believes should have the festive atmosphere it’s always had.