Aberdeen family celebrates the circle of life and the miracle of Hanukkah

By Seth Mandel
Dec. 7, 2007

While the Hanukkah menorah offers us a pleasing cascade of light, only one candle -- the shamash -- gives us light that both presents us with beauty and can be used to light up our daily lives.

Another additional source of light was recently brought into the life of an Aberdeen man, and, to the family, the timing was nothing short of miraculous.

Sadly, on Nov. 28, Yehiel David's wife's grandmother, Ada Levy, passed away. But miraculously the next evening, his first grandchild was born. Further, on the morning in-between, David completed improvements to the 15-foot menorah in front of Young Israel of Aberdeen.

"One life goes, and a new life appears, so to me it's very special because it's like a new light coming in," David said. "And you have Hanukkah at the same time, and we were blessed with a miracle, a nes."

Last Hanukkah, David unveiled his Hanukkah gift to the Lloyd Road synagogue -- a 15-foot menorah he made by hand. This year though, with Hanukkah being early in the calendar and winter weather already arriving, David wanted to make sure the menorah would stay lit throughout the holiday.

"I knew with the weather, the candles get blown out," David said. "So then it doesn't give you that sort of continuation. So I said ‘You know what, let's electrify the 15-foot menorah, and this way we can have the lights on all the time for Hanukkah.'"

Hours after David and his son, Sammy, finished the menorah, Erica and Jason David welcomed their first child into the world.

"And I didn't know she was giving birth," David said. "So to me, everything is coinciding, it's like a puzzle."

And the community is happy to be a piece of that puzzle. As soon as the menorah was finished, members of the shul complemented David on the new weatherproof hanukkiah.

Even the local fire chief was drawn to the new light.

"He came over and looked up and he said, ‘This is beautiful. This is beautiful'," David said.

The emotionally dizzying week made the Festival of Lights more like a ‘Festival of Life' for the David family: Yehiel, his wife Sharon, their sons Danny, Jason, and Sammy, and Erica and the baby boy.

While the community basks in its new light, the Davids will do the same. For Yehiel's part though, he said this no coincidence -- just all a modern-day extension of the original Hanukkah miracle.

"All these three things had to be meaningful to keep that miracle going," he said.