For the first time in the state’s history, Ohio’s chief executive marked the holiday of Chanukah by hosting a menorah lighting at the governor’s mansion.

During the ceremony, which was co-sponsored by the Schottenstein Chabad House and Ohio Jewish Communities, Chabad-Lubavitch Rabbi Areyah Kaltmann drew a parallel between the shamesh - the one candle used to light the menorah’s eight other candles - and Gov. Ted Strickland, whom the rabbi said “ignites all the state's citizens” in responding to the call of public service.

The Chancellor of the Ohio Board of Regents, Eric D. Fingerhut, lit the menorah. ...