Removal of Hanukkah Signs Protested

A homeowners’ association in an upscale Thousand Oaks neighborhood has disappointed some of its Jewish members after removing banners commemorating Hanukkah, which will be celebrated over the next seven nights.

Shortly after Thanksgiving, the Dos Vientos Ranch East Homeowners Assn. decorated the well-manicured neighborhood in Newbury Park with traditional holiday touches -- garland and red ribbon on subdivision signs and with holiday messages hung from light posts.

Among the decorations displayed for the first time were blue banners featuring a silver menorah and small dreidels with the words “Happy Hanukkah.”

“We don’t see very many Hanukkah decorations around. So we thought it was pretty great that we would take the lead in doing something for once,” resident Melody Rafelson said. Less than two weeks later, without explanation, the Hanukkah banners were replaced by white banners with images of three stylized presents -- green, red and blue boxes wrapped in gold ribbon.

But association board member Kevin Corbett said several residents complained about using association funds to pay for banners that fostered any religious message. “All members of the board feel very badly that anybody in the community was offended by the actions of the board in this matter,” he said. “The consequences were unintended and they certainly were not directed at the Jewish community.”

Rafelson, who works as part-time office manager for Chabad Jewish Center of Thousand Oaks, said it was her 3-year-old daughter who first pointed out the switch. “She noticed right away and asked, ‘Mommy, where’s the menorah?’ ” Rafelson said. “What do you say to your kid? It broke my heart.”

“That’s what really hurts,” said Rabbi Chaim Bryski, director of Chabad Thousand Oaks. “To a kid it’s almost like, ‘They’re stealing our holiday.’ ”

Rafelson said she at first believed the association was beginning to acknowledge the growing ethnic variety in the community.

Corbett, a lawyer in Los Angeles, said the board was trying to stay away from any religion. “The religious component is something that members of the community should celebrate in their own way.”

But resident Mark Alyn believes the remaining banners symbolize Christmas, with their candy canes and red ribbons. “While this isn’t blatant anti-Semitism and discrimination, it’s intolerable,” said Alyn, who is Jewish.