When a Menorah Becomes a Movement: How Cannorah Turns Chanukah Into Campus-Wide Community
There’s something that happens when you stand outside a grocery store in the dead of a Canadian winter, asking strangers to help you build a menorah out of canned goods. Most people think you’re kidding. Then they realize you’re not, and suddenly they’re grabbing extra soup cans off the shelf.
That’s Cannorah. And this year marked its eighth year at York University.
How This Started
Eight years ago, Rabbi Aaron and Miriam Greenberg, Directors of JLIC Canada, had this idea: What if we built a menorah entirely out of canned goods? Stack them up in a public place on campus, get people to “light” the candles, then donate everything to food banks.
It sounded a little nuts. But they launched it anyway as a JLIC program, working with Hillel @York. And it worked. So they kept doing it.
The Actual Work
A few days before the event, students set up outside local supermarkets. The pitch was simple: “We’re building a menorah out of canned goods for charity. Want to donate a can?”
About 90% of people said yes. Some grabbed a few extra items. Some handed over cash. By the end, the students had collected $500 in donations (which got turned right back into more cans at that same supermarket) plus 300 cans headed for Chasdei Kaduri, the local Jewish food bank.
The Event Itself
The program usually happens on the last or second-to-last day of the semester. This year it landed perfectly when everyone was fried from finals but desperate for some community before heading home.
The campus plaza filled up with everyone. University administrators showed up. Jewish faculty. Student leaders. Community members who drove in. This year both York’s current president and the incoming president came and lit candles.
The “lighting” part is simple. Since they can’t actually recite the brachot, each person just turns on a tea light tucked into the cans. But once all those little flames are going and that giant can-menorah is glowing in the cold, nobody’s thinking about technicalities.
Students handed out song sheets because not everyone knows Maoz Tzur by heart. Everyone sang Haneirot Halalu together. Ate sufganiyot and latkes. The non-kosher cans went to the York Federation of Students food bank. The kosher ones to Chasdei Kaduri.
Everyone left feeling more connected to something.
Why It Works
Cannorah does what most campus programs promise but don’t always deliver. It actually brings people together.
Students get to build something tangible. The community gets a reason to come to campus and see what Jewish life looks like. Administrators connect with students outside the usual contexts. And people who need food get fed, which is kind of the whole point of Chanukah anyway.
Eight years in, the Greenbergs’ idea has become a cornerstone at York. But the model is simple. Any campus could do this. You need students willing to stand outside a grocery store in the cold, some cans, some tea lights, and a community ready to show up.
Want to bring Cannorah to your campus? Talk to your JLIC Director. This thing travels.
Reach out to any of our Directors to learn more about and to support JLIC and our programming.
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