Thousands at Largest CityWalk Chanukah Event Yet

Chabad of the Valley’s annual Chanukah @ CityWALK had one of its largest crowds yet with many thousands in attendance. “It has become an annual fixture on the L.A. calendar”, according to Rabbi Yossi Baitelman, Director of Chabad of Studio City, the host city of the event.

Rabbi Mayer Greene, marking his 11th year as the Master of Ceremonies, said that the concert and celebration “had three hours of non-stop excitement and entertainment generating an incredible energy”.

Jonathan Herzog, one of the producers of the show, pointed out that an event of this magnitude could not be developed by merely one organization alone, but required a coordinated participation on the part of multiple organizations. Rabbi Yochonon Baitelman of Chabad of Porter Ranch, Rabbi Nachman Abend of Chabad of North Hollywood and Rabbi Yanky Kahn of Chabad of Tarzana spearheaded this collaborative effort.

On any given day, many thousands of people find themselves visiting CityWALK. This, on top of the multitudes that flocked there specifically for this event, once again clearly created the largest Chanukah celebration in Southern California.

For 3 hours, from 6:00 p.m. till 9:00 p.m. on Sunday, the second night of Chanukah, Universal Studios CityWALK was transformed into a “Chanuka Wonderland” with a vast array of entertainment, face painters, arts and crafts and kosher food including sushi from Meshuga4Sushi.

The onstage entertainment was highlighted by a rousing performance by 8th Day and the super charged sound of Piamenta – The Next Generation.

Other musical performances included Israeli artists Pini Cohen and Tzioni Zadok and Yumi Lowy on the heels of his debut album. Other performances included, The Cheder Menachem Boys Choir, Boruch Sholem Blesofsky, Aviv Vered and others. The night was completed with a dance set performed by Mendel Simons.

Local dignitaries included Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yuraslovsky, Los Angeles City Councilman Dennis Zine and LA City Controller Wendy Greuel. Chabad of the Valley’s Associate Director Rabbi Mordechai Einbinder thanked the Mayor and other dignitaries for their service to the community and staunch support of Israel. Also on hand to address the crowd was Rabbi Boruch Shlomo Cunin, the Executive Director of Chabad of California who extended well wishes to Chabad of the Valley’s Executive Director, Rabbi Yehoshua B. Gordon, who was back in New York observing the mourning period for the recent loss of his mother Rebbetzin Miriam Gordon A”H.

Following the addresses, Rabbi Yochanan Baitelman was joined on the podium by the President of Universal Studios Hollywood, Mr. Larry Kurzweil and Israeli Consul-General David Siegel who were honored with lighting the beautiful silver Menorah, accompanied by child actor David Mazouz who played alongside Keifer Sutherland in the Fox show Touch.

The new stadium sized Jumbotron Astrovision screen, a focal point of CityWALK, displayed all of the live onstage entertainment as well as numerous video clips produced by Rabbi Ari Greene. The highlight of the day, however, clearly was when the Rebbe was repeatedly shown on the giant screen. To see a place like this so completely taken over by the light of Chanukah is truly the fulfillment of Pirsumei Nissa.