Every year, starting two weeks before the first night of Chanukah, Wendy Hefter and her husband David hang lights, pump air into blow-up decorations, and let Chanukah take over the outside of their Pikesville home.
“We have three generations of people come to the house and say, ‘Oh, I remember that one [display item],’ and that’s really fun, because people come — all different religious levels — and the ones that grew up here, moved away or came back, they’re bringing their children, their grandchildren, and that’s really fun,” said Wendy Hefter.
The Chanukah house of Pikesville celebrated its first year in 2022, and since then has grown tremendously and become a community hub for the neighborhood.
“It started with a little table and a little Chabad event,” said Wendy Hefter. “Our little display started with decorations on the front porch and a little table, and each year we’ve expanded farther and farther.”
She said her specialty, when setting up the display, is the porch.
“Dave is responsible for all the hard stuff on the yard and all over the house — that’s his department — and then I do the front porch,” she explained. “I go to Goodwill, and that’s where I get costumes, and sometimes some of our children like to participate, so they might pay for this or pay for that, or, like the Fiddler on the Roof [figure] for instance, that was something our son, Daniel, said, ‘You should have that.’”
Visitors this year will also see a few baal teshuva figures, signifying people who become more Jewishly observant. The mannequins were originally talking and singing Santa Clauses from Lowe’s and Home Depot, according to the Hefters.
“I took them to the lady who does my hair, and I said, ‘Can you turn Santa into like a baal teshuva?’ So she gave him a nice haircut, and she colored his eyebrow,” Wendy explained. “I had already gotten the black hats donated, so I brought one with me so she could see how to style his hair.”
After the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks in Israel, the couple decided to bring security to their menorah lighting ceremonies. However, they said they have had “zero issues.”
Each night of Chanukah, the couple hosts various “sponsors” to light the menorah and celebrate the holiday. However, the couple only ask the sponsors to bring their own tables and food, and they are able to use the space free of charge.
This year, sponsors will include the Jewish National Fund on the first night of Chanukah, School of Rock on the second night, and the Oriole Bird, the Baltimore Orioles’ mascot, on the third. The Hefters said they have more sponsors than they do nights of Chanukah and are doubling or tripling up the sponsors per night.
“It’s cool just to see people drive by and everybody’s eyes are lit up. It’s really fun to see how much joy they get,” said Wendy. “That’s why we do it.”
New this year to the display is the installation of permanent lights around the outside of the house. “Instead of stringing lights on the roof that I had to go up and down, I had someone come and put in these programmable lights that are up there and those are exciting,” said David Hefter.
Additionally, the display features several new blow-up decorations and wooden cut-outs for children to take pictures with. David Hefter said he painted them himself: “If I see something fun, I’ll go ahead and paint it on wood and put it up … We’re just trying to include more fun things that’ll make it a destination for folks to come out.”
The Hefters said this is one of two holidays for which they decorate the house. For Thanksgiving, Wendy explained, they put out a few light-up turkeys. But Chanukah is when the couple goes all out.
“It’s the one holiday for Jews that is supposed to be celebrated outside with the lights. And there’s nothing against any religion putting decorations outside. So, it’s been really fun for people to just have a visual of our holiday that everybody’s OK with,” said Wendy.
“This is the most … neutral holiday that makes sense to do it outside, because no matter who you are, no matter what religion you are, it’s the story of a small group of people that got bullied by a big group of people who didn’t like them … but the little group of people believed in — well, for us, it’s Hashem — and it all works out. If you believe in what you believe and you’re nice, the bullies don’t end up winning anyway, and I think it’s something everybody can really relate to.”
