CYN Lights Up Florida with 7 Menorah Parades

Chabad Youth Network of Florida lit up the streets with an amazing 7 Menorah Parades!!! Cities around Florida were rocken the orange menorahs!

Weeks before Chanukah began; preparations were under way for all the parades to be. Rabbi Shmuly G. of CYN, with the help of a few dedicated bochurim, were busy building Menorahs; sawing, painting, and assembling to produce hundreds of beautiful menorahs.

On Thursday the first parade took place in Chabad of Palm Beach Gardens/Rabbi Vigler with a 30 car parade. On Sunday three amazing parades; Palm Beach Synagogue/Dini Shiner with a 25 car parade, Chabad of KendallRabbi Harlic with a 30 car parade, and Bal Harbor/Rabbi Lipskar with a whopping 70 car parade. On Monday a parade took place in Chabad of Daytona/Rabbi Ezagui with a 30 car parade, and finally on Wednesday in South Orlando/Rabbi Konikov with a 40 car parade and Miami with a 45 car parade.

Hours before each parade began; members of the community drove in to receive a menorah atop their car along with a CD full of inspiring and enlivening Chanukah songs. Many parades had a police escort to lead the way, stretched hummers for all the Hebrew school students to ride in style. Speakers blasted Chanukah songs to further spread the joy and light of Chanukah.

Spectators on the streets waved and smiled and even took pictures of the amazing procession of cars, ALL with menorahs! Also in the parade was a 7 ft dreidel on a pickup truck, with the letters nun, gimmel, hey, shin, illuminated. The truck stopped every so often as Rabbi Shmuly G. juggled and danced in the streets.

As the parade came to a close and everyone exited their vehicles, the joy on their faces was apparent for all to see. Each person marveled at the incredible feeling of joy and Jewish pride they felt being part of this parade. Many even kept the menorahs on their cars for the remainder of Chanukah! At the end site, each city held a different event with a beautiful menorah lighting ceremony.

With the hundreds of people participating in the parades and the thousands observing them, it was a Chanukah sensation in Florida. The lights of Chanukah burned bright!

Special thanks to Shimmy Korlitzky, Shloimy Gutnick, Yossi Gutnick and Orit Katan.