Thanks to a Calabrian parish and its leader, the Chanukah lights shined a bit brighter last week for a southern Italian congregation led by a former Pittsburgher. With the eight-day holiday nearing its end, Sinagoga Ner Tamid del Sud — the first synagogue to openly function in Calabria, Italy, since the Inquisition — faced a dilemma. For years, the “Eternal Light of the South” had held an indoor menorah lighting ceremony.

When the Calabrian-based space was deemed too small this year due to COVID-19 social distancing requirements, the congregation had to pivot. There were thoughts of holding the annual event outdoors, but the near-wintery weather in mountainous Calabria can be cold, windy and rainy, said Rabbi Barbara Aiello, a former Pittsburgher who returned to her patriarchal homeland and became Italy’s first, and only, modern liberal female rabbi.