Tradition! A menorah, a Sippin Cow, Jewish and Christian clergy, and the Bluffton mayor

Sunday night’s rain did not stop a public menorah lighting ceremony in Bluffton on the first night of Hanukkah.

Rabbi Brad Bloom of Congregation Beth Yam on Hilton Head Island led the ceremony, but the candles were lit by the Rev. Jon Black of Campbell Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Bluffton and Bluffton Mayor Lisa Sulka.

“It was really an amazing experience,” Bloom said.

Its importance, he said, was that the Jewish community celebrated its religious traditions in public, and that the community responded with ecumenical support.

“It’s about showing respect,” he said. “It’s about validation. It is something that can bring us together without losing our distinctive, unique religious traditions and culture.

“There’s so much that divides us today. Religion has to get out front to bring us together. We need to come together.”

Both Sulka and Black made welcoming remarks to a gathering of some 80 people.

The event was to be held at DuBois Park, but due to the weather it was held at the Sippin Cow Cafe and Grill, where David Kimbell and fellow musicians performed Jewish holiday songs, and traditional latkes and jelly-filled doughnuts were served.

When it looked like it would have to be canceled, Sippin Cow owner Christy Pinski, who had been contracted to make the Hanukkah potato pancakes, volunteered the use of her restaurant in The Promenade.

The 6-foot-high menorah, made by welder Mike Glancy, was lighted on the porch, and lights will continue to added nightly throughout the week at the synagogue on Hilton Head.

“It was a lovely, warm experience,” said Beth Yam president Judy Bluestone. “It’s the first time Congregation Beth Yam has done this kind of thing.”

Bloom said they plan to do it again next year in Bluffton and on Hilton Head.

“There was a true spirit of brotherhood and the season,” Bluestone said.