Menorah lighting at the Utah Capitol marks the start of Hanukkah â but with a COVID twist
Gov. Gary Herbert, Rabbi Benny Zippel and other masked onlookers warm up to the occasion on a cold night.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Rabbi Benny Zippel lights Utah s tallest menorah, 20 feet tall at the Utah State Capitol, for the first night of Hanukkah, on Thursday, Dec. 10, 2020.
  | Dec. 11, 2020, 2:56 a.m.
In what has become an annual tradition, the beginning of Hanukkah was marked once again by the lighting of a giant menorah on the Utah Capitol grounds at sunset Thursday.
But this time, as with every other religious holiday during the coronavirus pandemic, social distancing was required. Some onlookers arrived and stayed in their cars, while those 100 or so who wanted a closer look in the cold night air, were warned sternly to wear their masks.