The Jewish community in Cork has celebrated the last night of Hanukkah in Shalom Park with the lighting of an art installation as part of what is known as the Evening Echo ritual.
The park is in the centre of an old neighbourhood known locally as ‘Jewtown’.
Lord Mayor of Cork Fergal Dennehy joined members of what is now a small community to watch the symbolic lamp lighting.
The artwork, by New Zealand artist Maddie Leach, comprises a series of nine electric lamps – the tallest of which, the ninth lamp, is only lit for half an hour on the last night of Hanukkah.
This lamp is lit 10 minutes before sunset, and it remains lit for 30 minutes after sunset, when it is extinguished until next year.
“The Evening Echo project is an important annual marker that acknowledges the significant impact that the Jewish community had in Cork,” Lord Mayor Dennehy said.Moreover, this artwork acquires an additional significance because it illustrates the precarious balance and possible disappearance of any small community existing within a changing city.
“Evening Echo continues as a lasting memory of the Jewish community in Cork City,” the Lord Mayor said.
Those gathered in Shalom Park expressed their solidarity with the Jewish community in Australia following the recent gun attack on Bondi beach in Sydney.
Lisa O’Connell, originally from Australia, said people were out to celebrate what is a festival of hope when it was desecrated by the gunmen.
Jewish community in Cork shows solidarity with people of Bondi Beach
