Chanukah Lights Up Kharkov Brighter than Ever Before

Adding the light of Chanukah not only every night but every year! This year there were more public menorah lightings in Kharkov, Ukraine then ever before.

The first night of Chanukah – for the first time ever – a beautiful menorah was lit in Platinum Plaza right in the heart of the city, in front of the Avek Business Center. On the first night , hundreds of people came to watch the Menorah lighting as the Israeli Consul spoke and Boris Yaakovlevich Feldman (a Jewish community leader) lit the menorah with Rabbi Moshe Moskovitz. Yitzchak Halfon sang a rendition of Chanukah melodies as the crowd joined in dance and song. Every night the menorah shone brightly in the Plaza as Chanukah videos were played on the large plasma screens and the shluchim did mivtzoyim and gave out doughnuts.

The second night of Chanuka, the menorah lighting was planned for 4:30 PM in front of the Opera Theatre on Sumskaya Street. At 3:30 pm there was a sudden downpour of rain! Kharkov has seen freezing temperatures and snow storms on Chanukah – but rain was a first. By 3:45 the rain didn’t stop and the shluchim sat down to write a letter to the Rebbe – asking for a brocha for a miracle that the rain should stop. Everyone walked to the menorah through the rain and puddles …the fireworks company called in despair that the rain wasn’t stopping and the news and the press were uncertain if the program would still go on…At 4:28pm the rain suddenly stopped! As Rabbi Moskovitz went up on the cherry picker to light the menorah, he told the crowd of the miracle that everyone had witnessed – and together with Alexander Kaganovsky (the President of the Shule) lit the menorah as the fireworks exploded over the entire Kharkov.

A car menorah parade of over 20 cars drove to the next stop – the Daffy Mall – one of the largest in Kharkov – where the menorah stands in a central location. The cheder boys danced to the Klezmer music to the joy of the customers who looked on in amazement at the festivities.

The third night of Chanuka was celebrated with a concert, menorah lighting and fireworks in the shule on Pushkinskaya St.

On ‘Zos Chanukah’ (the 8th day of Chanukah) was the grand Bar Mitzvah celebration of Menachem Mendel Levinson, son of the shluchim Reb Chaim and Sora Levinson. It was a real kiddush Hashem, and was the grand finale to an amazong Chanuka in Kharkov.

A large menorah was placed on the “Dom Bitte” Business Center, in view of thousands of cars and passengers passing by the Kharkov Train Station.

Rabbi Levi Raices went to the jails in Kharkov to visit the Jewish inmates.

Hundreds of menorahs and brochures were given out over Chanuka throughout the city.