Chanukah News from Across the Globe

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.