It was a big crowd, even for Washington.
More than 4,000 people convened on the Ellipse just outside of the White House on a temperate Sunday night—the first night of Chanukah—to witness the lighting of what is officially known as the National Menorah. Rabbi Levi Shemtov, director of American Friends of Lubavitch (Chabad) ignited the first candle with the timeless message of Judah Maccabee in mind, urging Jewish people everywhere to ”keep strong, and maintain integrity and love for Torah and every fellow Jew, but at the same time, do not falter in your energetic pursuit for victory of good over evil.”
“We have to remember the ancient story; we have to apply it to modern eras,” said Shemtov. ”As the world struggles to confront evil, it’s important to remember we’ve been here before.”
The National Menorah celebration on Dec. 6 included a performance by “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band and Grammy Award-winning violinist Miri Ben-Ari playing “Maoz Tzur” (“Rock of Ages”), among other program highlights.
President Barack Obama issued a statement about Chanukah and the messages of the holiday, which remembers a second-century BCE Jewish victory that allowed Jews to rededicate their Temple, and the miracle of a small jug of oil lasting for eight days, instead of just one.
“At its heart, Chanukah is about the struggle for justice in the face of overwhelming obstacles,” he said. “It’s a chance to reflect on the triumph of liberty over tyranny, the rejection of persecution, and on the miracles that can happen even in our darkest hours.”
The president stated that “during these eight days, let us be inspired by the light that can overcome darkness.”
White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough, representing the Obama administration, said at the event that “the lighting of the National Menorah has become a great American tradition. For many years now, by its presence in the heart of our nation’s capital, this tradition has introduced people of all faiths to a profoundly moving story—the miracle of Chanukah. Even though it was more than 2,000 years ago that a small group of Maccabees drove out their oppressors and secured their right to worship freely, their courage is something that resonates today. It is strength we can draw on.”
McDonough rode up in the cherry-picker to assist with the lighting, along with Rabbi Levi Shemtov and his father, Rabbi Avrohom Shemtov, chairman of Agudas Chassidei Chabad—the umbrella organization of the international Chabad-Lubavitch movement—and head Chabad emissary in Philadelphia.
The celebration in Washington, D.C., was one of numerous lightings and festive events taking place globally to mark the holiday. The first night started off with grand menorah-lightings at the Eiffel Tower in Paris; at the Western Wall in Jerusalem; on Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan; and blocks away from the Kremlin in Moscow. The second night saw significant ceremonies in Calgary, Alberta, and South Broward, Fla., among other places.
It’s all part of a worldwide Chanukah campaign set into motion in 1973 by the Lubavitcher Rebbe—Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory—who encouraged the establishment of menorahs in the public sphere to share the message of light and hope with the world.
Hakhel and Chanukah
At Chabad of Roosevelt Island in New York City, co-directed by Rabbi Zalman and Nechama Duchman, community members came together to build a CANorah—a menorah entirely made from canned foods. The goods will be donated to the hungry after Chanukah.
New York is also home to the world’s largest menorahs—a gold-colored ones standing 32 feet high at Fifth Avenue and 59th Street in Manhattan, and at Grand Army Plaza in Brooklyn, N.Y. Crowds will gather nightly at around 5:30 p.m. at both sites for public menorah-lightings. (The Friday-night lightings on Dec. 11 will start earlier because of Shabbat, and the Saturday-night lighting will take place later, at about 8 p.m., on Dec. 12). Also on Saturday evening, more than 200 vehicles will head up Fifth Avenue as part of the annual New York City car-menorah parade.
Outside of Miami, more than 10,000 people visited Gulfstream Park on Monday night for a mass menorah-lighting and concert sponsored by Chabad of South Broward. The 28th annual event featured Chassidic singer Avraham Fried, and was billed as not just a Chanukah festival but as a “Mega Hakhel Gathering” in this Hakhel year.
New York Chabad of the West Side Rabbi Chayim Boruch Alevsky, who co-directs family and youth programs with his wife, Sarah, has been working hard on the “Chanukah on Ice” program at Wollman Rink in Central Park. “We rent out the whole rink, have Jewish music playing and a giant ice menorah,” he says.
The crowd will have the chance to skate, and nosh on kosher hot dogs, donuts, hot chocolate and soup at the Monday-night program. As many as 1,500 people have attended this annual event in the past, with more expected in what is predicted to be a mild week, weather-wise. “We partnered with all the Chabad Houses on the island, and we invited them to invite everyone in their communities to join us and to participate with us and make this one big Hakhel gathering,” says Rabbi Alevsky. “So we’re combining Chanukah with Hakhel.”
‘Make the World a Better Place’
Houston kicked off Chanukah Fest 2015, a week-long celebration that marks the 20th annual menorah-lighting there. The first night’s lighting took place in front of City Hall, ending with a fireworks display. Co-hosted by the City of Houston, that event included a concert by the Jewish rock band 8th Day and some two-dozen different booths, including activity booths—complete with games and prizes—staffed by Chabad rabbis from around the city.
Planning for the milestone celebration started two years ago, said Rabbi Mendel Traxler, program director at Chabad Outreach of Houston. While the Chanukah events usually draw hundreds, the joint mega-event with congregations from around the city drew thousands.
“I hope that every kid who comes has a Chanukah memory they’ll never forget,” declares Traxler. “I want everyone to have a very beautiful, enjoyable Chanukah experience on a very grand level.”
“It’s the message of Chanukah—a little bit of light pushes away a lot of darkness,” he says. “It’s very important to remember that message. Even as we go through daily life, we have to be bright and shine light onto every day, and make this world a better place by doing acts of goodness and kindness.”
Doing acts of goodness while doing the mitzvah of lighting the menorah is at the heart of a social-media fundraising campaign from Chabad Houses in Melbourne, Australia. The “Light for Peace” campaign asks people to take a selfie with their lit menorah and then share it on Facebook with a hashtag #lightforpeace. For each selfie taken and posted, a community member has pledged to donate $2—up to a total of $20,000—to purchase protective vests for the Israel Defense Forces.
More than 60 Jewish residents of the Grand Cayman island gathered at the Ritz-Carlton for a celebration of the first night of Chanukah with Chabad Cayman. The Chabad House will also be hosting a larger, more public giant menorah-lighting on Wednesday night, Dec. 9, at the Camana Bay Town Centre—the first-ever public menorah-lighting by Chabad in Grand Cayman. It is expected to draw a few hundred people, both locals and tourists alike, and feature a performance of Jewish music from the Pardes Rock band, arts-and-crafts, Chanukah treats and more.
Back in the United States, some 8,000 Jewish teenagers and their families will convene on Thursday, Dec. 10, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn for a menorah-lighting ceremony at the Nets basketball game and a halftime Chanukah concert. The annual event is sponsored by CTeen.
In Clearwater, Fla., Rabbi Levi Hodakov, co-director of Chabad of Clearwater with his wife, Miriam, has constructed what he believes to be the world’s longest menorah. At 44 feet long and made out of PVC piping, it corresponds to the 44 candles lit during the course of the holiday each year, he explains.
He built the menorah as a response to the killings last week in San Bernardino, Calif.
“The Lubavitcher Rebbe said that the answer to darkness is to increase in light,” relates Hodakov. "With Chanukah coming just days after the terrible massacre in California, I felt this would be my community’s addition of light unto the world. We are dedicating the menorah to the victims of San Bernardino, as well as to the victims of terror in Israel, France and around the world.”
In San Bernardino itself, which is struggling to return to normal just days after 14 people were killed in a terrorist attack, Rabbi Sholom Harlig—co-director of Chabad of the Inland Empire in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., with his wife, Chanie—lit a menorah at the site of the attack. Joining him were his grown sons, Rabbis Mordy and Mendy Harlig, who grew up in San Bernardino and now work in Jewish community there.
‘Walk Away With Jewish Pride’
Rabbi Berel Paltiel, co-director of the Chabad Jewish Center of Snohomish County in Lynnwood, Wash., with his wife, Goldie, had more than 100 people come out to see the lighting of a 9-foot menorah in front of City Hall—their first year lighting a menorah in that location. Mayor Nicola Smith spoke, and a fire show with acrobatics and jugglers tossing torches entertained the audience, as Chanukah music played in the background.
“We wanted to take it to the next level,” says the rabbi. “The city was very accommodating, and a lot of people came out.”
They handed out candles, lit the menorah, said the Chanukah blessings and sang Chanukah songs together. People enjoyed hot latkes and gelt, chocolate coins. By the end of the evening, all of the menorahs that the Paltiels brought with them for distribution had been given away.
The rabbi notes that “many of the people there had never been at a public menorah-lighting before. It gave people pride in their Judaism. We’re hoping people walk away with that pride, and that they’re actually going to act on it.”
Meanwhile, in Hawaii—the westernmost time zone of any Jewish community—where the world’s last menorah-lighting takes place every year, the Chabad emissaries there are planning to round out the holiday in a new way.
Says Rabbi Michoel Goldman, co-director at Chabad Kauai with his wife, Zisel: “This year, because of Hakhel, we’re organizing a simultaneous lighting on the four main islands—Kauai, Oahu, Maui and the Big Island—connecting Hawaii’s Jewry in a way that’s never been done before!”
For Chanukah information—including locating public menorah-lightings—inspiration, recipes, events for the whole family and more, visit the Chabad.org Chanukah 2015 page here.
![Rabbi Avrohom Shemtov, chairman of Agudas Chassidei Chabad and head Chabad emissary in Philadelphia, was lifted up to symbolically "light" the 30-foot menorah, though no prayers were said. He went up again in a cherry-picker the next night in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Levi Sherman)](https://w2.chabad.org/media/images/924/Eohh9245319.jpg?_i=_n32DD4A5CE5B405756B86D11830CBE5B1 "Rabbi Avrohom Shemtov, chairman of Agudas Chassidei Chabad and head Chabad emissary in Philadelphia, was lifted up to symbolically "light" the 30-foot menorah, though no prayers were said. He went up again in a cherry-picker the next night in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Levi Sherman)")
The Paris/Jerusalem/New York menorah-lightings can be viewed below.
The Washington, D.C., menorah-lighting can be viewed below.
The South Broward, Fla., menorah-lighting can be viewed below.
The Calgary, Alberta, menorah-lighting can be viewed below.
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