Throughout the city, San Franciscans and visitors from outside the area participated in exquisite religious ceremonies to commemorate Christmas.
“Religious freedom is the holiday’s main focus. therefore there is no justification for us to be confined to our houses and just engage in religious activities. However, we are grateful for our freedom of religion in America,” Rabbi Moshe Langer of Chabad of San Francisco told CBS News Bay Area.
The 49th menorah lighting ceremony was inaugurated Wednesday evening in Union Square by Rabbi Langer and local residents. Only a few paces from the Union Square Christmas tree, the 22-foot mahogany menorah rises tall, signifying harmony and coexistence.
The Bill Graham Menorah in Union Square is even more unique, the rabbi continues, adding that there are 15,000 public menorah lightings outside of Israel.
“In 1975, when this was built and placed here in Union Square for the first time, this was the first (massive) public menorah outside of Israel,” said Langer.
Additionally, on Christmas Day, over a thousand people attended the Holy Eucharist at Grace Cathedral, a few miles distant.
“I really wanted to experience the spirit of Christmas in the United States, and this is one of San Francisco’s most exquisite cathedrals. Oksana Shvets, who recently relocated to San Francisco from Ukraine, told CBS News Bay Area, “I wanted to hear the chorus and be in the beautiful atmosphere over here.”
“We had four services yesterday for about 10,000 people. It was packed. We have roughly 1,000 today. “The cathedral is beautifully decorated, and it’s a really exciting time,” Grace church head usher Bill Quinn remarked. “Many individuals from out of town are coming to visit us. And it is truly a unique moment to watch them enter the cathedral, their eyes widening.”
Returning to Union Square, Langer stated that the Chanukah celebrations are just beginning and that the menorah would be lit each night of the holiday.
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