Hanukkah celebration hosted at Wyoming State Capitol

CHEYENNE — On Thursday, members of Wyoming’s Jewish community gathered at the Wyoming Capitol to celebrate, mourn and feast at the public lighting of a 9-foot-tall menorah.

Hosted by Chabad Jewish Center of Laramie, the ceremony, held on the fourth day of the eight-day holiday, celebrated Jewish tradition and culture while acknowledging ongoing religiously motivated violence around the world.

Ultimately, speakers shared a message of pride in their Jewish heritage and courage to host a public event despite a recent deadly attack at a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia, and ongoing violence in Gaza.

The attack in Australia occurred on the first night of the holiday. It resulted in 15 deaths, including two rabbis, before the attackers were stopped by passer-by Ahmed al Ahmed, a Syrian Australian, and local law enforcement.

Chabad Jewish Center of Laramie Rabbi Yaakov Raskin acknowledged the increased need for security at the event, noting the difficulties faced this week.

“I stand here not to ignore the pain, but to refuse to let fear win,” he said. “Jews don’t seek martyrdom, we celebrate life, but Judaism is so important that we know it may cost life.

“... I continue to stand proud as a Jew, despite, or indeed to spite those who seek evil.”

Raskin drew on the historical narrative of Hanukkah to underscore the continued perseverance of those in the Jewish community.

The holiday commemorates the Maccabean victory over the Syrian- Greeks and the story of the oil, where a single jar of oil –  enough for only one day — lasted eight days.

“It’s a holiday miracle of survival, of perseverance,” Raskin said.

Malkie Raskin, co-director of Chabad Jewish Center, also addressed the attendees, focusing on the human capacity for evil and the necessity of moral education. She said that change must happen on an individual level, noting that atrocities are committed by human beings.

“Each of us has free will, so we must ask ourselves, ‘What leads a person into evil, if not an education and value system lacking a moral foundation?’” she said.

She urged attendees to focus on teaching and educating today’s youth, making a plea to instill purpose, meaning and moral clarity in young minds.

Gov. Mark Gordon, who also attended and spoke at the event, referenced the recent attack in Australia.

He condemned hatred, noting a rise in antisemitic incidents.

“There were almost 10,000 anti-semitic activities in this country alone last year. That needs to stop. There is no room for hate,” he said, saying there are shared values between Judaism and his religion, Christianity. “We can have disagreements, and that’s fine, but we must do that respectfully and within the bounds of what makes sense to move us all forward.”

The ceremony concluded with the lighting of the 9-foot-tall menorah after Raskin honored Gordon with challah bread and a challah board and called the governor the “most prominent mitzvah do-er in the State of Wyoming” for supporting civil society and a functioning government.

The public menorah lighting, a practice encouraged worldwide by the Chabad movement since the 1970s to promote awareness of the festival, concluded the ceremony before attendees gathered to share food.

Rabbi Raskin closed the ceremony with the final words, “A summary of all Jewish holidays is, ‘It’s hard to kill us. We won. Let’s eat.”

This story was published on Dec. 19, 2025.