It was a menorah lighting like no other, with a Chasidic rabbi dancing hand in hand with a kafiya-clad Muslim man in the tiny Persian Gulf country of Bahrain, located off the northeast coast of Saudi Arabia.
The second light of the Menorah was lit Sunday night in the Champ de Mars park in Paris, underneath the Eiffel Tower, with thousands of people in attendance.
Chabad of Essex, UK, kicked off the first two nights of Chanukah with two Menorah lightings in two towns, which – despite the clash with local holidays – brought out huge impressive crowds, showing the true strength and real Jewish Pride which often lays beneath the surface of this community.
This is the twenty fifth year in a row that the Chief Rabbi of Russia, Rabbi Berel Lazar, lit the Chanuka candles in Moscow’s Red Square, and every year he feels the same surge of excitement as he pronounces the words “she’asa nissim la’avoseynu bayamim hahem bizman hazeh.” When the crowd roars “amen” in reply, the words echo and reverberate off of the Kremlin fortress.
Appropriately enough, it was the flame-topped wicks swaying high above Milwaukee Avenue that brought singing and dancing to the streets of Chicago’s famous Wicker Park neighborhood.
The Mayor of Kiryat Gat, Israel, Mr. Aviram Dehari, joined the pubic Menorah lighting hosted by Chabad in a show of solidarity to the Rov of the city, Rabbi Moshe Havlin, who has been the target of a harassment campaign in recent months by opponents of the IDF draft of Orthodox Jews.
Sushi-making and holiday giving were the themes of Chabad of Orange County’s recent Women’s Circle event at the Chabad Center in Chester, NY.
A Chabad center in S. Monica, California, was found vandalized with feces on Sunday, the first day of Chanukah.
Shalom Ber Rabin (Los Angeles/Detroit) and Raizy Klein (Monsey, NY)
Please take a moment and say a Kapital Tehilllim for Liora Rochel Chaya bas Sara, who is in need of an urgent Refuah Sheleimah.
Join in completing the Tehillim in merit of her complete and speedy recovery, Click Here to participate.
A visit from New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio and a rocking concert by the Moshav band enthralled some 1,000 people who packed into the pedestrian area at Grand Army Plaza for the lighting of Brooklyn’s Largest Menorah.
Rabbi Zalman Tiechtel presented Kansas Governor Sam Brownback with a custom-made dreidel during a Chanukah celebration at the state Capitol.
In a stunning betrayal of the State of Israel, the United States abstained from voting at a Friday session of the United Nations Security Council on a resolution condemning the Jewish State. At the National Menorah Lighting ceremony, a Chabad Rabbi seized the opportunity to deliver a harsh reminder to the outgoing administration.
Moishe and Sarale (nee Naparstek) Orimland (Crown Heights)
Yeruchem (ben Moshe) Lipszyc (Toronto, Canada) and Chaya (bas Moshe) Bryski (Agoura Hills, CA)
History was made today in the suburb of Paddington in Sydney, Australia. Since its establishment in the mid-1800s, there has never been a public Menorah lighting in the suburb. Today, the first day of Chanukah, CBD-Chabad hosted Paddington’s first ever Public Menorah Lighting, with some 50 members of the Sydney Jewish community in attendance.
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