In the News

With Christmas in the rearview mirror, members of the African-American community and the Jewish faith each lit candles to kick off their own holidays Thursday.

About 40 people gathered inside City Hall in the morning to celebrate the first day of Kwanzaa, called umoja or unity, with music, dancing and the lighting of the first of seven candles signifying each day of the holiday that ends on Jan. 1.

Several hours later, dozens of members of the Jewish faith, led by Rabbi Chaim Kosofsky and his brother Noach Kosofsky from the Lubavitcher Yeshiva Academy in Longmeadow, joined on Court Square to light the first two candles on the large menorah to celebrate the eight days of Hanukkah which began Dec. 25 and will end Jan. 2.

“Occasions like this present us with the opportunity to provide what we call community and what mean by community is unity without uniformity. The right to express ourselves differently, the right to worship as we chose,” U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal, D-Springfield, said during the menorah lighting.

The city has celebrated the start of the Jewish holiday of light since the 1980s when Neal himself was Springfield’s mayor. He said he has continued to attend the event every year.

Before lighting the menorah, Chaim Kosofsky asked the crowd to remember Rabbi Zvi Kogan, who was killed in November in the United Arab Emirates. Israel is calling his death a homicide and an antisemitic terrorist incident, according to the BBC.

“We can fill the void. “Do good. Look out for others. Be a good neighbor and be friendly to strangers,” Kosofsky said. “Lift people with your words. Wish people a good day and be the sunshine of someone’s day. This is the message of the menorah.”

Mayor Domenic J. Sarno with a variety of state legislators and city councilors attended both ceremonies. At the menorah lighting, he called for people to continue to fight antisemitism, which is on the rise.

At the Kwanzaa celebration, Sarno thanked the organizers for educating people about the meaning behind the African-American holiday started in 1966 as part of the civil rights movement and conferred awards to six people recognized for making Springfield a better place.

Kwanzaa, which is celebrated by millions of people of African descent throughout the world. It is a time for people to reflect on what people and communities have accomplished and to look forward to future goals, said Ayanna Crawford, a member of the Kwanzaa Collective which organized the event.

“It is practiced by Africans from all religious traditions all classes, all ages and generations and all political persuasions,” she said.

Each of the seven days focuses on a different principal with the opening day on Thursday centered on unity or umoja. That is followed by self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose and creativity and finally faith.

Each day a candle is lit to recognize each principal.

As part of this year’s celebration, a community Kwanzaa festival is scheduled starting at 11 a.m. Saturday at the University of Massachusetts Springfield Center in Tower Square on Main Street, Crawford said.

Kwaku Fosuhene, who holds a role of traditional chief in Ghana, was one of the honored guests at the kickoff ceremony.

“The chief organizes his masses to do something to help develop the country or town,” Fosuhene said, explaining the rulers are separate from the government and are designed to bring unity to a community.

Fosuhene was visiting the area for the holidays and said he was invited to attend the event.

As part of the holiday’s start, six people were also honored for roles they have played in the community, Ariaun Stewart, the chief executive officer of C.HR of Springfield; Kevin Spivey who is also known as a consummate volunteer through his work as Dj KLS; Gina Billie Gean Belvin, founder of Digital Boombox Network; Brendaliz Cepeda, director of Bomba de Aqui, a multicultural learning center; Maria del Carmen Rodriguez, a soul healer and the Unity Hearts Foundation.

The six are all “amazing people” or organizations whose work is impacting the community and do not expect to be recognized, Crawford said.

“I was born and raised in Springfield and I just want to see it grow,” Belvin said as she accepted her award.