DALLAS — For 15 years, a Dallas rabbi dreamed of lighting up the sky with a light installation representing a menorah.
This Hanukkah, his prayers were answered.
"This was the perfect year to finally get it together," Rabbi Zvi Drizin told WFAA.
The spotlights are set up at the Jewish Community Center in Dallas. With the passing of each of Hanukkah's eight nights -- an annual Jewish celebration of lights that concludes Sunday -- an additional beam is added to the installation.
"[They're] huge lights that go into space!" Drizin said.
But they're also more than just that, the rabbi said.
"At a time when there's a lot of people, frankly, talking a lot of nonsense about Jewish people in the public and on social media, we just thought that this was the perfect year to finally get [the light installation] together," Drizin explained. "When you look up and see it in such a public way... it's a beautiful thing to see that this is who we are, and we're proud of it, and it's safe and great here [in Dallas]".
Drizin said he hopes that, when people drive past the lights, they see that his community is both proud to be Jewish and proud to be in Dallas.
"I want you to see that light," he said. "A little bit of light pushes away a lot of darkness. And you can too be a light and beacon of hope for everyone around you."
Added Drizin: "I think, at the core level, Hanukkah is about miracles -- and miracles, period. There's something that just transcends reason. That's something that many Americans, and people around the world can relate to -- this idea that there's something beyond our own minds and reason, that there's a God in this world. And it's beautiful. Its hopeful."