Vandalized menorah rededicated at University of Illinois

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) - A large menorah knocked over earlier this year outside a University of Illinois Jewish center has been repaired and rededicated.

The center candle of the menorah at the university's Chabad Center was lit Monday by center director Rabbi Dovid Tiechtel and interim university Chancellor Barbara Wilson. A group of students lit two other candles, and many in the crowd of 150 people sang songs as they marked the second night of Hanukkah and the menorah's repair.

Tiechtel said his community's faith has grown stronger following the Aug. 19 vandalism.

"What we have seen over the past few months from all across the Jewish community, the community at large and people of all faiths, is that we are going to stand taller and we are going to stand brighter," he told The (Champaign) News-Gazette (http://bit.ly/1NgjXsA ).

Tiechtel said $7,500 has been raised for a new 9-foot menorah that is being designed. He's confident it will be installed next year, and he hopes it will become as well known as the university's Alma Mater statue.

"We want it to be an icon of pride and light," he said. "For every person, at your graduation, you aren't just going to go to the Alma Mater. You are going to come to the menorah here, a beacon of light."

University of Illinois police have said a Parkland College student charged with a felony in the vandalism told them he planned to take the menorah to a Jewish friend. Police say the damage hasn't been classified as a hate crime.

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Information from: The News-Gazette, http://www.news-gazette.com