After the city of Golden rejected a plan to place a menorah on city property, a rabbi and his followers have found the next best place — on the wall of a popular bar on the city’s main street.
Judaism in the Foothills, an Evergreen-based organization led by Rabbi Levi Brackman, announced Thursday that it will place an 8-foot, lighted menorah on an outside wall of the Buffalo Rose Bar, 1119 Washington Ave.
The menorah will be displayed during the eight days of Hanukkah, Dec. 21-28, with a special lighting ceremony at 4:30 p.m. Dec. 28.
The Golden City Council rejected the group’s request in October to place the menorah on the city’s archway nearby at 10th Street and Washington Avenue, which displays a Santa Claus and reindeer.
“We’ve never in our history allowed religious icons on public property,” Mayor pro tem Karen Oxman said Thursday. “Santa Claus is an economic symbol, not a religious symbol.
“I have no problem with where they put their menorah, as long as it isn’t on city property, as long as it isn’t on the sidewalk in front of the Buffalo Rose.”
Brackman said the group also will install a similarly sized menorah inside Colorado Mills mall, which is private property in Lakewood. That menorah will be up only Dec. 21.
“I don’t consider their (city councilors) decision to be anti-Semitic or anything like that,” Brackman said. “I believe they just don’t want religious symbols in their city.”
The Allied Jewish Federation is a co-sponsor of the two menorahs, along with Judaism in the Foothills.
Mike McPhee: 303-954-1409 or mmcphee@denverpost.com
