Mt. Lebanon Commission hears Jewish community members’ concerns about menorah policy
Final decision delayed until Civic Engagement Advisory Board makes their recommendation

More than 40 members of the local Jewish community attended a Jan. 14 Mt. Lebanon commissioners meeting to comment on the township’s refusal to include a menorah as part of its annual holiday display.
The commissioners opened the comments section of their meeting with a statement by Ward 2 Commissioner Steve Silverman, acknowledging the Chronicle article that brought attention to the matter and saying that Mt. Lebanon “does not accept requests or grant permission for third-party groups to add any municipal displays.”
Such permitting, he said, would require that permission be granted to any group, regardless of the group making the request or its message.
“We take the position to ensure municipal displays represent the character of the community without excluding any specific groups,” Silverman said.
The issue of a public menorah, Silverman said, is being considered by a nine-member Civic Engagement Advisory Board, created in 2023. That board is “examining the subject of inclusion globally and makes recommendation to the commission regarding municipal efforts, including all displays on municipality-owned and controlled properties.”
The engagement board, he said, will make recommendations to the commission.
Several members of the Jewish community addressed the commission, delivering respectful but disappointed comments.
After discussing the historical and religious significance of both Christmas trees and Santa Claus to the Christian faith, and noting their prominence at Mt. Lebanon’s public holiday celebrations, Audree Schall said seeing those symbols at public displays didn’t bother her.
“The problem that exists for me and my husband, our family and my Jewish community,” she said, “is that our choice and opportunity to celebrate our Jewish faith in the city does not exist.”
After noting that both Dormont and Swissvale have hosted Chanukah celebrations, Bryan Neft referenced the 1989 Supreme Court decision that, he said, “ruled that if you allow a Christmas tree you must include a menorah, too.”
“We need to find ways to be the inclusive place to live that I always thought Mt. Lebanon is,” Neft said. “This is particularly important now when the Jewish community has faced greater antisemitism now than at any time in postwar history.”
Chabad of the South Hills Rabbi Mendy Rosenblum, who has tried for the last three years to have a menorah included as part of the municipality’s holiday celebrations, noted that the menorah “embodies a universal message of bringing light to darkness, freedom of expression and triumph over oppression … themes that resonate deeply with people of all backgrounds, especially during the holiday season.”
The meeting ended with the commission thanking those who spoke and reiterating that the engagement board is taking up the issue and will make a recommendation to the commission. The engagement board’s meetings are also public.
Municipal Manager Keith McGill said in an email to the Chronicle that one function of the engagement board is to “advise the Commission and make recommendations concerning strategies and methods to promote culturally responsive service delivery, programming and communication strategies.”
The commission, McGill said, will consider recommendations provided by the board and determine “how to implement the recommendations that advance the municipality’s commitment to perpetuate a community with a profound sense of belonging for each individual.”
Rosenblum told the Chronicle that he addressed the engagement board at its Jan. 2 meeting. He expressed concern that the matter was being sent back to an advisory board.
“It feels like another delay tactic,” Rosenblum said. “Instead of going to the decision-makers, they’re telling us to go to the people who will make recommendations to the decision-makers.”
And while Rosenblum isn’t moved by the commission’s policy to ban third parties from adding to municipal displays, he questions whether the Mt. Lebanon Partnership, which runs many of the holiday celebrations in the municipality, is actually a third party since it has its own board.
McGill said that the municipality provides financial support to the Mt. Lebanon Partnership and that two of its directors are appointed by the Mt. Lebanon Commission.
Rosenblum said he won’t be deterred and that his commitment to ensuring Mt. Lebanon has a menorah as part of its holiday celebration is unwavering.
“I’m not going away,” he said. PJC
David Rullo can be reached at drullo@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.
comments