Chanukah News from Across the Globe

Chanukah events sponsored by local Chabad-Lubavitch centers brought giant menorahs, exotic celebrations and dozens of parades to cities and towns all across the world.

The Jewish community of Moscow braved freezing temperatures for its yearly gathering in Red Square and a nationally-televised Chanukah menorah lighting outside of the Kremlin.

Chanukah celebrations this year featured thousands of new faces, and a surprising array of unusual menorahs – some edible, others enormous – that graced locations in every time zone.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper participated in a Chanukah menorah lighting ceremony in his Ottawa office.

Chabad-Lubavitch of Hawaii reportedly baked the world’s largest Chanukah cake-menorah last week, kindling the 2.5-foot-high and eight-foot-long candelabra at its “Chanukah in Ancient Israel” event.

The Toronto suburb of Markham played host to what was believed by residents to be one of the world's largest Lego menorahs.

Lord Mayor Campbell Newman and Deputy Mayor Graham Quirk joined celebrants in Brisbane, Australia’s Reddacliff Place to celebrate Chanukah.

Chabad Lubavitch of Warsaw kindled the Chanukah menorah in the Polish Parliament with senators, deputies and the legislative body’s vice marshal, Stefan Niesiolowski.

Melbourne, Australia’s menorah lighting draws state government officials, and North Boston kids organize a Chanukah toy drive.

In his first official meeting with Chabad-Lubavitch representatives since assuming Kansas’ highest political office, Gov. Mark Parkinson took the occasion of Chanukah to speak about his favorable impressions of the Holy Land.

This year, guests at the Sacramento celebration participated in a “reverse toy drive” sponsored by Disney. The governor passed gifts out during the ceremony, and Chabad of California asked that attendees give the toys to children in need.

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist joined the 10th annual Chanukah celebration at the Governor’s Mansion in Tallahassee.

Parents on the lookout for fun and exciting ways to keep the flame of the Festival of Lights alive during the day have found the answer to their prayer in dozens of Chanukah Wonderlands that have popped up across the United States.

Through its streaming video portal, Jewish.tv, Chabad.org is taking viewers around the world this Chanukah by broadcasting an assortment of public menorah lightings live.

Children of all ages got into the holiday spirit last week at Chabad-Lubavitch of Orange County, N.Y., as the local Jewish community prepared for Chanukah.

It’s no secret Chanukah menorahs come in all shapes, sizes and colors, and feature any of a number of materials in their construction.

Three months before returning to private life, outgoing Uruguayan President Dr. Tabare Vazquez received a delegation of Jewish leaders in advance of the holiday of Chanukah.

Organized by the regional headquarters of Chabad-Lubavitch, the first Chanukah party since the parliament’s inception in 1856 drew prominent politicians and dignitaries, including Premier Nathan Rees and Opposition Leader Barry O’Farrell.

With the approach of Chanukah, Chabad-Lubavitch institutions around the world have been working around the clock to make the eight-day Festival of Lights more accessible to Jewish people of all backgrounds.

Preparations are underway for a center-court Chanukah menorah lighting hosted by the Portland Trail Blazers.

South Korea made history last week with the country’s very first public Chanukah menorah lighting, sponsored by the new Chabad-Lubavitch center in Seoul.

Chabad-Lubavitch centers across the United States embarked on a unique Chanukah campaign to fight hunger.

More than 900 Manhattan residents gathered for a family Chanukah event at New York City’s Central Park sponsored by Chabad-Lubavitch centers on the island.

More than 16,000 people were on hand for a Chanukah menorah lighting at Nashville, Tenn.’s Sommet Center stadium sponsored by the city’s Chabad-Lubavitch center.

For the first time in the state’s history, a Chanukah menorah stood beneath the rotunda of the capitol building in Cheyenne, Wyo.

Thousands gathered outside the Kremlin for a traditional Chanukah menorah lighting in below-freezing weather presided over by Russian Chief Rabbi Berel Lazar.

Jewish leaders from the Sunshine State joined Gov. Charlie Crist in celebrating Chanukah at a menorah lighting at the state capitol in Tallahassee.

Rockville Volunteer Fire Department in suburban Maryland made history this Chanukah with what is believed to be the world’s only menorah fire truck parade.

Mayor Job Cohen lit the giant Chanukah menorah in Amsterdam’s central Dam Square during a ceremony organized by Chabad-Lubavitch of the Netherlands.

The Jewish community in Vietnam’s largest municipality, Ho Chi Minh City, took their Chanukah festivities outside after last year’s party overflowed the confines of the local Chabad-Lubavitch center.

Two Chabad-Lubavitch rabbinical students erected a menorah at the summit of the tallest mountain in the world, driving a line of torches into the ground as a couple of tourists walked past.

Hundreds of people crowded in the small alley outside of Mumbai, India’s central Chabad-Lubavitch to witness a public Chanukah menorah lighting outside the six-story building destroyed in last month’s terror attacks.

One month after a coordinated series of terror attacks brought life to a standstill in Mumbai, more than 600 people crowded in front of the city’s Gateway to India monument for a public Chanukah menorah lighting ceremony proclaiming that the goodness typified by the targeted Chabad-Lubavitch center would always prevail over evil.

Family, friends and colleagues of Rabbi Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg, the Chabad-Lubavitch emissaries murdered in last month’s terror attacks in Mumbai, India, gathered at the couple’s Chabad House to issue a beacon of light in the form of a Chanukah menorah.

Assisted by Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman kindled the giant Chanukah menorah erected outside the state capitol in S. Paul by the Upper Midwest headquarters of Chabad-Lubavitch.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper promised to do all he could to defend religious freedom throughout the globe as he helped light a Chanukah menorah erected by Chabad-Lubavitch of Alberta.

One month after their children perished in the Mumbai, India, terror attacks, the parents of Rabbi Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg will light a Chanukah menorah at the Gateway to India monument.

Joining scores of other Chabad Houses around the United States, shoppers at a mall in Cherry Hill, N.J., constructed a giant Chanukah menorah out of an estimated 1,000 donated cans of food

Thousands of London’s Jewish residents gathered around the 30-foot menorah erected at Trafalgar square for a lighting ceremony with none other than Mayor Boris Johnson.

Francophone Jews living in Florida ushered in the eight-day holiday of Chanukah during a menorah lighting ceremony at the home of French Consul General Philippe Vinogradoff.

Hours before the rest of the Jewish world lit its menorahs for the first night of Chanukah, thousands of people in the Australian state of Victoria celebrated the holiday during a party at a local park

Hundreds of Jewish children throughout S. Barbara, Calif., gathered outside an area mall Sunday night to personally decorate the “Unity Menorah” erected by the local Chabad-Lubavitch center.

In remarks delivered the same day as Jewish community leaders and politicians attended a Chanukah party hosted by Chabad-Lubavitch of Harrisburg at the Pennsylvania State Capitol, Gov. Edward G. Rendell called on all nations to work together to “to bring

Rabbi Avraham Holtzberg, brother of Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg - the slain director of the Chabad House in Mumbai, India - is expected to light a giant menorah at a Long Island park and speak about the self-sacrifice of his brother and sister-in-law Rivka.

Jewish community leaders will join international representatives and New York officials for an unprecedented grand menorah lighting at the Statue of Liberty organized by Chabad-Lubavitch.

Chanukah will formally be welcomed in Utah this year during a Sunday evening ceremony at the Governor’s Mansion.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger joined Chabad-Lubavitch of California and local Jewish community leaders to inaugurate a 13-foot menorah at the foot of the capitol.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry met with 16 Chabad-Lubavitch rabbis – including directors of two campus-based Chabad Houses – in his private capitol office Tuesday to mark the eight-day holiday of Chanukah.

Some 5,000 people descended on London’s historic Trafalgar Square for the city’s first-ever grand public menorah lighting with the Chabad House of Herndon.

In what was a banner year, dozens of university administrators and officials turned out for Chanukah celebrations sponsored by campus-based Chabad Houses. In addition, close to 18,000 students attended Chanukah events and 14,000 received free menorahs.

Monday night marked the first-ever Chanukah menorah lighting in the Sejm, Poland’s parliament. Chabad-Lubavitch Rabbi Shalom Stambler assisted Vice President Jaroslaw Kalinowski in lighting the candelabra.

Members of Germany’s federal judiciary joined representatives of Baden, Germany’s government for Chabad-Lubavitch of Karlsruhe’s Chanukah menorah lighting in the state capital of Karlsruhe.

Members of the Jewish community of Russia’s Pacific coastal port of Vladivostok packed a concert hall for a Chanukah celebration and fête of communal achievements.

The Jewish Children’s Museum’s Chanukah workshop was a hit with kids and parents who were shopping at the Macy’s flagship department store on 34th Street in Manhattan.

A reported tens-of-millions television viewers, as well as tens of thousands of commuters and pedestrians, witnessed the Dec. 6 Chanukah menorah lighting conducted by Chabad-Lubavitch of Brazil on S. Paulo’s Avenida Paulista. The regional governor and the city’s mayor were on hand for the celebration.

Chabad-Lubavitch of Uruguay put on a live production for 600 children to teach them about the meaning of Chanukah.

Russia’s Far East Celebrates Chanukah With 210-Meter-Tall Monument

The Jewish Committee of Her Majesty’s Armed Forces partnered with Chabad-Lubavitch of Manchester in England to send Chanukah packages to Jewish personnel stationed abroad.

Chabad-Lubavitch of Pittsburgh lit a Chanukah menorah in front of the building that 20 years ago set off a legal showdown that went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Gov. Jon Corzine hosted more than 100 Jewish community members at a Trenton Chanukah celebration sponsored by Chabad-Lubavitch of New Jersey.

Chabad-Lubavitch of Nebraska, which was scheduled to hold a Chanukah event in the very mall terrorized by shooters bullets on Tuesday, held a menorah lighting and vigil in the wake of the tragedy that left nine dead.

Eight Chanukah Tales by Nissan Mindel contains a story for each night of the Festival of Lights.

U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey lit the first candle of the Chabad-Lubavitch menorah on the Ellipse in front of the White House Tuesday night in an event sponsored by American Friends of Lubavitch in Washington, D.C.

Chabad-Lubavitch of Berlin opened the city’s Chanukah observances Tuesday night with a public menorah lighting at the Brandenburg Gate attended by 2,000 people.

For Chanukah this year, the Chabad's Jewish Children’s Museum in Brooklyn, N.Y., has partnered with Macy’s to educate children about the miracle and meaning of the eight-day Festival of Lights.

Thousands of cars topped with eight-branched festive candelabras, known as menorahs, will parade in cities across the globe to spread the message of Chanukah.

Chabad-Lubavitch rabbinical students associated with the Living Legacy of the Chabad Chai Center of Montreal teach public school children about the miracle of Chanukah in a visual and hands-on way.

Jewish women in Goshen, N.Y., celebrated the approach of Chanukah by making hair accessories for children in local hospitals.

Moscow’s Shaarei Tsedek Charity Center is distributing food-aid packages and special boxes of jelly donuts to needy families in the city in advance of Chanukah.

Chabad on Campus is offering free Chanukah kits to Jewish college students, consisting of a menorah, candles and explanatory guide.

With help from the Jewish Children’s Museum, Macy's in New York will offer a "Chanukah Wonderland" for its child patrons.

For the past decade, Chabad-Lubavitch of Greater Somerset County has erected an 18-foot-high dreidel near a busy intersection to celebrate the miracle of the Jewish people’s victory on Chanukah.