Good Morning Gloucester

Common Crow will open at 6am on Friday with free coffee, treats and rolling discounts until 8am.

Temple Ahavat Achim, at 86 Middle Street in downtown Gloucester, is the only Jewish institution on Cape Ann. More than a hundred years old, the congregation has very firm roots in the granite of this fishing town. And so, last year at Hanukkah time, when a congregant saw the traditional Christmas tree made of lobster traps, he had an idea: why not us? Why not use the local style to express our close ties to our community?
And so a strangely wonderful event was born.
This year the congregation will, for the second time, build a menorah — a Hanukkah lamp — made of 40 lobster traps, along with LED lighting and zip ties. No; lobster is not kosher, but this congregation is not typical either. Although affiliated with the Conservative movement, its congregants come from across the spectrum of Jewish observance and belief. When its historic building burned to the ground in 2007, it voted to rebuild on its small footprint in central Gloucester, parking be damned.
The community is invited to take part in the ceremony marking the lighting of the first candle, on Tuesday, Dec. 8 at 6pm. The ceremony will include members of the synagogue’s religious school. Mayor Sefatia Romeo-Theken, Senator Bruce Tarr, and Representative Ann-Margaret Ferrante have been invited to participate. The celebration will include a brief service, singing, and eating potato pancakes known as latkes.
This year, Hanukkah lasts from the evening of Dec.6 through the evening of Dec. 13. It commemorates the victory of the Maccabees over their Greek rulers in the second century B.C.E. Lighting a light each night for eight nights recalls the miracle of that time, when a small amount of oil burned for eight days.
For more information, please contact: Rabbi Steven Lewis, Phoebe Potts (Sylvia Cohen Religious School Director), Sam Silverman (Temple President).