The One-of-a-Kind Hockey Stick Menorah | FEATURE

Take a walk on the Prudential Center main concourse, outside of sections 19 and 20, during the holidays and use can’t miss it.

A menorah constructed of New Jersey Devils players hockey sticks.

The menorah arrives every holiday season, brought to the arena by Rabbi Zalman Grossbaum, the CEO of The Friendship Circle, who also happens to be the engineer behind the structure.

“Over the years, it's evolved,” the rabbi shared, “First we had this just regular, large menorah, then we created an ice menorah, we actually had an ice sculpturist come here and create the menorah. Then we had to take it to the next level. The team kept on pushing me, so we had to come up with something unique. So, I said, ‘You know what? Send me a bunch of hockey sticks. Let's see what we can make out of it.”

Then he went to work.

"I get this package of four goalie sticks, and then a bunch of regular sticks," he shared. "These were all game used, and they had the players names on them. It's really cool. I almost felt like I was dealing with something so holy. So then I had to figure out, what do you do? What do you do with this? Now I had no idea, but the menorah in the temple, traditionally was diagonal, so I had some things moving over there."

What came next was this beautiful menorah made out of game used fiberglass hockey sticks. Take a look up close and you’ll find the names of Andy Greene, Ben Lovejoy, Pavel Zacha and others, and the base of is held up by the sturdiness of goalie sticks from Cory Schneider and Keith Kinkaid.

“So, as I was brainstorming, it's in our workshop at Life Town, and came up with this idea and laid it out," he continued. "Initially, I thought that it would need a truck to transport over here, but after you put it together, then it collapses and fits in my van, it's one of the miracles of Hanukkah.”

On Thursday, the Devils are celebrating Jewish Heritage Night, which will be the first opportunity this season for fans to catch a glimpse of the menorah. The Rabbi hopes that when anyone takes the opportunity to view it, they will be reminded of what the menorah symbolizes and how it should inspire us.

“It’s all about spreading light,” Grossbaum said. “Every single night we add another flame, because the light that we had yesterday is not good enough for today. Not good enough for tomorrow, every day, we need to add more lights, which is symbolized in mitzvahs and the good deeds that we do, the impact that we have in this world. So let us continue to just add light, add warmth and concern for each other and understanding of each other. That's what's so important.”

The rabbi, a big hockey fan since he was a kid, also sees it’s symbolism in the construction of a flourishing hockey team.

“If the players were on the ice, and each one was just all about all about himself, they wouldn't score any goals,” he said. “It's all about coming together. Everyone has to play their role, and everybody's role is important. You know, it might be glitzy to be the offensive player and scoring those goals, but without the defenseman and without the goalie, that would never happen. So, you know, that's what as a community, we have to recognize each the strength of each other. We're so much stronger. We're so much better. We could act as a team when we come together.”