Aboveyou see Archbishop Jose Gomez of San Antonio together with rabbi Aryeh Scheinberg lighting a menorah on December 15, 2006. The event took place at San Fernando Cathedral Community Center in commemoration of the Jewish feast of Hanukkah.

Archbishop Gomez wanted to set a pattern to be followed and broadly imitated. In fact, he noted that the joint celebration “is truly a sign of brotherhood and goodwill that inspires the whole community,” describing it as “the legacy of dedicated Jewish and Christian leaders, men and women who have come before us, who provided the foundation on which we build the future.”

In the prayer that followed, pretending that Catholics and Jews worship the same God, he said: “We pray that the celebration of Hanukkah be a sign of your special light in our hearts,” adding, “Lord, we rededicate ourselves to serve you by serving one another” (full report here).

On December 7, 2007 the Jewish ceremony took place inside the Catholic Cathedral of San Fernando for the first time.

This annual ceremony in San Antonio repeats the one made by John Paul II in 2001. During a papal audience that fell on the first day of Hanukkah, the Pope invited Bennett Feinsilber - a Jew who lives in San Antonio - to bring up a menorah and he lighted it. He also read from a Jewish book the "blessing" of Hanukkah.

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