The lighting of the Christmas tree and Hanukkah Menorah officially kicked off the holiday season for the Auburn family on Thursday, Dec. 1 at 6 p.m. on Samford Lawn.
The holiday lighting ceremony was hosted by the ambassador for the Auburn’s Jewish community Lily Buder, and SGA president Jesse Westerhouse.
“To me, the holidays are really powerful because all major religions celebrate some joyful holiday at this time, or some sort of celebration of life,” Buder said. “I think that’s really a testament to the human spirit.”
The ceremony shared traditions of the religions represented that others might not have known about, Buder said. For example, Buder shared that a Menorah is actually called a Hanukiah. “A Menorah actually has seven candles but the one used on Hanukkah has nine candles.”
“Personally, I think the different aspects and diversity that we can learn from each other by doing things like this is really powerful, especially in times when people can feel very divided,” Buder said.
“It’s nice to bring people together.”
Auburn director of athletics Jay Jacobs and his wife Angie read the holiday classic “'Twas the Night Before Christmas” with an Auburn spin, and Buder read “Twas the Night Before Hanukkah.”
Mayor Bill Ham said this was the largest turnout ever he’s seen. Ham also encouraged the crowd to remember to keep those who are less fortunate in mind this season.
“Think about those that you can help this holiday season and there are so many, so many ways you can help others,” Ham said. “You can turn and look and you can always find someone less fortunate than you and your family.”
The Auburn University Choir was also in attendance and sang traditional Christmas songs such as “Deck the Halls” and “Silent night.”
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