Westside : MENORAH

Beverly Hills and a Hasidic Jewish sect that annually erects a Hanukkah menorah in a city park have the right to a new hearing on the menorah issue, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday.

The majority of the court’s judges voted to refer the case to an 11-judge panel for a new hearing.

Last September, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the city may have granted religious favoritism to Chabad by allowing the 28-foot-tall menorah to be placed in a park near City Hall, while turning down other proposed religious symbols. The court’s ruling revived a lawsuit by the American Jewish Congress--which opposes any religious displays on public property--against Chabad and Beverly Hills. The city then requested a new hearing.

Beverly Hills Mayor Allan Alexander called the court’s latest decision a “welcome court victory.”

Chabad has put the menorah in Beverly Gardens Park for almost two weeks a year since 1986. The American Jewish Congress filed the federal suit in 1990 to force its removal.