By Dave Dahl
SPRINGFIELD – If you stand in the state Capitol Rotunda to ponder the meaning of the season – whatever your season – you’ll have to use your imagination this year.
The customary holiday displays are taking the year off because of ongoing construction in and around the statehouse. The secretary of state’s office has jurisdiction over the Capitol, and a spokeswoman for that office says the decision was made in conjunction with the Office of the Architect of the Capitol. The Rotunda itself is not part of the project, but the space is more cramped this year because the north wing is walled off.
Rabbi Meir Moscowitz of the group responsible for the annual menorah display, Lubavich Chabad of Illinois, does not sound as if the one-year absence has thrown him.
“We’re definitely going to put up the menorah somewhere – not sure yet where. Every year we put more and more menorahs. It’s like the holiday itself: every night, you light one more candle.”
He suggested the new and improved Capitol will mean a new and improved menorah in 2024.
The rules apply to all, so the same goes for the holiday tree, Nativity, Freethatdom from Religion Foundation message, Satanic Temple statue, and – that one year, anyway – a Festivus pole.
Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected]
