Menorah May Be Lighted in Santa Ana Park but It Cannot Stay Overnight

An Orange County Superior Court commissioner ruled Monday that a menorah may be lighted in a public park each night of Hanukkah, the Jewish festival of lights, but he refused to order the City of Santa Ana to leave the menorah in the park overnight.

Commissioner Ronald L. Bauer rejected the claim of the Chabad congregation of Anaheim, an Orthodox Hassidic group, that the menorah is like a Christmas tree in that it is a “mixed symbol” of culture and religion.

“There is an enormous qualitative difference, frankly, between a lighted fir tree and a menorah,” Bauer said in ruling that the city has the right to regulate the “time, place and manner” of a menorah display at Sasscer Park in downtown Santa Ana.

On Friday, city workers had removed a 10-foot menorah from the park after the American Civil Liberties Union challenged a permit allowing it to be there, calling the permit an unconstitutional violation of the separation of church and state. A candle-lighting ceremony later was held in the park with a small, portable menorah.

Removed by City Workers

Another large menorah was brought to the park for a candle-lighting ceremony Saturday and was removed by city workers after Chabad members refused to move it that night. The same thing happened Sunday evening.

Fred M. Blum, an ACLU attorney, said Monday that allowing the menorah to remain at the park overnight as a “fixed” object would mean to the average citizen that “government is supporting that religious symbol,” especially since the park is across the street from City Hall and the federal and state buildings.

Lawyers for the American Jewish Congress, which describes itself as a national Jewish organization whose aims include the strict separation of church and state, argued that neither the Christmas tree nor the menorah should be allowed.