A surfboard menorah was lit at sundown Sunday, representing the fifth night of Hanukkah and a public statement of Jewish pride and perseverance in the face of many challenges.

The holiday lighting took place on Main Beach in Laguna Beach, hosted by the Chabad Jewish Center of Laguna Beach. The nine-branched candelabrum created with surfboards sits on the cobblestones at the south end of the downtown park. The lighting was part of the Chabad’s eight-day Festival of Lights celebration and the menorah will remain there until Jan. 6.

“The menorah stands tall to testify to our endurance as a nation through so many different persecutions and many enemies,” said Perel Goorevitch, co-director of the Chabad Jewish Center of Laguna Beach. “We’ve gone through so much and are still strong and proud.”

The celebration also included Israeli DJ Eldad, dancing, fun activities and dreidels, latkes and chocolate gelt for children.

“The festival is all about light, recalling the victory of a small Jewish army over a much larger Greek army and the miracle oil that lasted eight nights,” Goorevitch said.

It was Goorevitch who came up with the idea for the unique menorah, the only one of its kind in Orange County, she said.

“We were thinking in what creative way could we involve the community,” she said. “Then I thought, what about a surfboard menorah?”

With the help of several general contractors and donations of old surfboards from the community, the menorah was built and stood up at Main Beach for the first time 17 years ago.

It was designed by Steve Sachse, Mike Tompkins and Tony Hempen.

Tompkins, a local contractor, still recalls the weeks it took to put it together in a shop in the canyon.

“We brainstormed on how to attach the surfboards, create a base, and get lighting involved,” Tompkins said. “It was a bunch of plywood, glue and screws. It’s held up pretty well all these years.”

Tompkins said he is still proud when he sees it at the beach and recognizes that it’s part of a meaningful celebration.

“Who doesn’t like a sculpture of surfboards at Main Beach?” he said. “I’m not a Jew, but I enjoy it.”

For Goorevitch, who has worked side-by-side with her husband, Rabi Elimelech Goorevitch, better known in the community as Rabbi G, since 1991, the menorah at Main Beach has the purpose of the many publicly displayed menorahs around the county.

“It’s about Jewish pride and standing up for who you are,” she said, adding one of the rules if menorahs are lit in homes, is to place them on a windowsill so others can see them. “It’s religious freedom. Bring goodness and kindness and shine beautiful light into the world.”