Adding light to the festive blue spotlights placed around the courtyard at La Jolla's La Valencia Hotel, a large menorah burned under the palms to mark the third night of Hanukkah on Nov. 30.
Though some La Jolla churches are embracing the opportunity to resume indoor services after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last week cleared the way for them to do so, several are opting not to right away.
Late Feb. 5, the high court lifted California’s ban on indoor worship during the COVID-19 pandemic, ruling that Gov. Gavin Newsom’s strict orders appeared to violate the Constitution’s protection of the free exercise of religion. The court left in place restrictions on indoor singing and chanting and allowed the state to limit attendance to 25 percent of a church’s building capacity in areas, such as San Diego County, considered to have widespread coronavirus risk. Newsom’s office the next day issued revised guidelines for indoor church services.
While the COVID-19 pandemic ushered in a new era of screen time Zoom teleconferencing, more Netflix than anyone thought possible and FaceTime as a way to socialize it also seems to have brought out a lot of authors and other creatives in our own backyard.
Here’s a look at the local books, murals and more of the past year, as well as the inventive ways that arts institutions have continued to provide programming during the pandemic.
January
Polar Bear Plunge: An estimated 400 people participate in the Polar Bear Plunge on New Year’s Day at La Jolla Shores. Sponsored by the La Jolla Cove Swim Club, the plunge is a 30-year-old local tradition in which La Jollans and others rush into the cold ocean for play or swim.
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Hoping to spread a light in The Village, Chabad of La Jolla held its menorah lighting outside the La Valencia Hotel on Dec. 13, adapting the annual Hanukkah celebration into a drive-through to align with pandemic-related restrictions.
The hour-long celebration, which began at 5 p.m., included balloons and decorations strung across Prospect Street, music playing and a fire dancer performing at the stop sign at Herschel Avenue.
Rabbi Baruch Ezagui, center, speaks against a backdrop of Hanukkah balloons and a fire dancer. The menorah is about “blessing our community with light,” he says.
(Elisabeth Frausto)
Speaking into a microphone at the intersection of Prospect and Herschel next to a large menorah, Rabbi Baruch Ezagui said: “We’re going to be blessing our community with light. That’s what the menorah is all about not being satisfied with one light but adding another one and another one.”