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8 snapshots of Hanukkah celebrations from around the world
(JTA) — Hanukkah may be considered a “minor holiday,” as rabbis will say, but its resonance and unique traditions offer a great window into Jewish communities around the world.
We’ve rounded up eight images, one for each candle of the menorah, that give a snapshot into how Jews — and, in a couple instances, how a few notable non-Jews — are celebrating the festival of lights this year, from Chile to Ukraine to Taiwan.
Kharkiv, Ukraine
Rabbi Moishe Moskovych lights the first Hanukkah candle. (Vyacheslav Madiyevskyi / Ukrinform/Future Publishing via Getty Images)
Most of the Jews of Kharkiv, formerly one of Ukraine’s hubs of Jewish life, are believed to have left since the start of the Russian war in February. But on Sunday, residents of the city in northeastern Ukraine found some respite on Sunday night at the Kharkiv Choral Synagogue, where, in an event led by a local chapter of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, participants made wax candles, wrapped tefillin and ate latkes with applesauce.
Denver, Colorado
(Image courtesy of Aish of the Rockies)
The Denver chapter of NCSY, the Orthodox Union’s youth group, unveiled a Lego menorah on Sunday that was built by over 425 teens and constructed from 25,000 Lego bricks. Standing at more than 24 and a half feet tall, the structure will be taken apart and the bricks will be donated to children in foster care in the United States and in Israel.
Denver NCSY’s leader, Rabbi Yonatan Nuszen, claims it is the largest Lego menorah in the world, will be taken apart and the bricks will be donated to children in foster care in the United States and in Israel. Another Lego menorah, though, claims it deserves the title of the largest in the world — this one in Israel.
Tel Aviv, Israel
A Lego menorah in Tel Aviv is in the running for a Guinness World Record. (Lego Store Israel/Instagram)
North Miami Beach-based artist Yitzchok Kasowitz claims that his Lego menorah at the Lego Store in Dizengoff Center, built with around 130,000 pieces, is the largest of its kind. According to the Times of Israel, it took a group of “Lego experts” just two marathon days to put it together.
Santiago, Chile
Chilean president Gabriel Boric lights the menorah accompanied by president and vice president of the Jewish community in Chile, Gerardo Gorodischer and Ariela Agosin, and chaplain of La Moneda, Rabbi Eduardo Waingortin. (Courtesy of the Chilean Jewish Community)
Chile’s far-left president Gabriel Boric has a complicated relationship with most of his country’s Jewish community, and he sparked a minor diplomatic crisis with Israel in September when he rebuffed the credentials of an Israeli envoy.
But on the Friday before Hanukkah, he attended his first official candle-lighting ceremony as president, in what has become a tradition at the La Moneda presidential palace for the last 14 years.
Speaking on Boric’s behalf, Chile’s Secretary General Ana Lya Uriarte said, “This celebration reassures the right that everyone has to practice their faith anywhere, anytime. Lighting these candles means illuminating us during easy and hard times.”
El presidente de la República, señor Gabriel Boric, el Capellán judío de La Moneda, Rabino Eduardo Waingortin, el presidente y la vicepresidenta de la Comunidad Judía de Chile, Gerardo Gorodischer y Ariela Agosin, encienden la vela servidora de la #Janukia.#JanucaEnLaMoneda pic.twitter.com/34mtWm5wRV
— Comunidad Judía de Chile (@comjudiachile) December 16, 2022
Helena, Montana
For the first time in nearly 90 years, Hanukkah lights shine from Temple Emanu-El. (Courtesy of Montana Jewish Project)
For the first time since 1934, the Jewish community of Helena celebrated Hanukkah on Sunday at Temple Emanu-El, the state’s first synagogue, after a months-long effort to buy back the building from the Catholic Diocese. The interfaith event was attended by nearly 150 guests, who enjoyed a (much smaller) menorah lighting, latkes, a photo booth, arts and crafts, and dreidel-playing. It was the first time in nearly 90 years that Hanukkah lights shone from this building.
Mumbai, India
(Gabe Miner)
Mumbai’s Jewish community, led by the Chabad of Mumbai, lit a large menorah this week at the Gateway of India, an early 20th century monument in the shape of an archway. After the candles were lit, guests were treated to a Hanukkah performance from students at the local Jewish school, featuring dancing and plastic swords. About 5,000 Jews live in Mumbai today.
São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
(Michelle Bolsonaro/Instagram)
On Monday, public Hanukkah candle lighting ceremonies took place in Brazil’s two most populous cities, where hundreds of people gathered to watch and the ceremonies were televised. Brazil’s first lady Michelle Bolsonaro posted a photo of a menorah and a bible in front of Brazilian and Israeli flags on her Instagram account, which received more than 420,000 likes. Her caption included the blessing for the Hanukkah candles in Hebrew.
Taipei, Taiwan
Members of the Taiwan Jewish Community hard at work on their menorahs. (Courtesy of Benjamin Schwall)
In the weeks preceding Hanukkah, members of the Taiwan Jewish Community in Taipei head to the Yingge district — an area famous for its production of ceramics — to shape and fire their own menorahs in what has become an annual tradition. The menorahs were then used to ring in the first night of Hanukkah on Sunday.
Jordyn Haime contributed to this article.
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The post 8 snapshots of Hanukkah celebrations from around the world appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Long Island town ordered to pay $19M after blocking Chabad synagogue construction
(JTA) — After nearly two decades of legal sparring, a town on Long Island has been ordered to pay a local Chabad center $19 million, settling claims that officials unlawfully blocked the construction of a synagogue on its rabbi’s property.
Rabbi Aaron Konikov and Lubavitch of Old Westbury sued the Village of Old Westbury in 2008, after the village passed a law in 2001 governing places of worship as Konikov sought to build a synagogue on his property.
Local officials enacted the law two years after Konikov planned a ceremony to announce a new building on the land where he already operates a synagogue. They decreed that houses of worship could be built only on plots of 12 acres or more. Konikov owns a 9-acre plot.
In October, U.S. District Judge Gary Brown ruled that the 2001 ordinance “unconstitutionally discriminates against the free exercise of religion and is therefore facially invalid.”
Old Westbury agreed to pay the plaintiffs in the suit $19 million as part of a consent decree, which was signed by Brown on March 18, Newsday reported this week.
“This consent decree may not be modified, changed or amended except in writing signed by each of the parties approved by the court,” Brown wrote. “Each party participated fully in the negotiation and drafting of the terms of this decree, and any ambiguity shall not be construed against any party.”
Kornikov did not respond to requests for comment on Monday. But he may soon be switching into construction mode for his long hoped-for synagogue, for which preliminary plans show a 20,875-square-foot building and an adjacent parking lot.
The $19 million payment will be made by the village’s insurance providers, and Lubavitch of Old Westbury has until Jan. 15, 2027, to apply for a special-use permit from the village to build a synagogue, according to Newsday.
The ruling marks a notable victory for emissaries of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, who have often been met with legal challenges when establishing centers. Last July, the Village of Atlantic Beach in New York agreed to pay Chabad of the Beaches $950,000 to settle a legal battle over the construction of a new community center.
This article originally appeared on JTA.org.
The post Long Island town ordered to pay $19M after blocking Chabad synagogue construction appeared first on The Forward.
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Iran claims synagogue in Tehran was ‘completely destroyed’ by US-Israeli strike
(JTA) — Iranian state media claimed on Tuesday that a synagogue in Tehran was “completely destroyed” by a U.S.-Israeli strike.
The claim was impossible to verify. Footage of the alleged attack on the Rafi-Niya Synagogue posted online showed open Hebrew prayer books scattered among the rubble of a building.
The synagogue was damaged when a nearby residential building in Tehran was attacked, according to Iranian news agencies. The Rafi-Niya Synagogue is located near Palestine Square, an epicenter of the Iranian regime’s anti-Israel propaganda.
The United States and Israel have been bombing sites in Tehran for more than a month since launching a war on the Islamic Republic regime. Israel emphasized that it does not target religious sites.
Homayoun Sameyah Najafabadi, the only Jewish representative in Iran’s parliament, condemned the attack in a video published by Iran’s official IRIB News outlet.
“The Zionist regime showed no mercy towards this community during the Jewish holidays and attacked one of our ancient and holy synagogues,” Najafabadi said. “Unfortunately, during this attack, the synagogue building was completely destroyed, and Torah scrolls remain under the rubble.”
About 8,000 Jews live in Iran and worship in dozens of synagogues. The war has exacerbated their delicate position, as they are technically granted freedom of religion but face peril if they demonstrate any connection to Israel or dissent against their government. Hundreds of Iranian Jews who have applied for refugee status because of religious persecution are trapped in the country after the United States halted refugee admissions.
The alleged attack comes one day after the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs posted footage of an undetonated missile on a street, writing that an “Iranian regime missile struck next to a mosque in Israel.”
“A regime that targets civilians and sacred spaces of all religions has no red lines,” the ministry wrote in a post on X. “Nothing is off limits for them.”
On Tuesday, the Israeli prime minister’s office issued a statement about the alleged damage to the Rafi-Niya synagogue. “Iran is firing missiles at civilians, Israel is striking terror infrastructure,” it said. “Missiles on civilians versus precision strikes on terror targets. That’s the difference.”
This article originally appeared on JTA.org.
The post Iran claims synagogue in Tehran was ‘completely destroyed’ by US-Israeli strike appeared first on The Forward.
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Attacker killed in gunfight outside closed Israeli consulate in Istanbul
(JTA) — One attacker was killed and two others injured in a gunfight with police outside the Israeli consulate in Istanbul on Tuesday morning.
The consulate has been largely closed since 2023, when the Oct. 7 attack on Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza escalated diplomatic tensions between Turkey and Israel.
Turkish authorities said they had identified the three attackers in the incident, in which two police officers were also lightly injured. The man who was killed, whom they identified as Yunus ES, had “connections with a terrorist organization that exploits religion,” the Ministry of the Interior announced. It did not identify the organization.
Turkish authorities also did not immediately tie the incident to the consulate, noting that a major bank and other businesses were located closer to the firefight. They said the attackers had driven to Istanbul from Izmit, about an hour and a half away, and had brought both long-barreled guns and pistols.
The U.S. Embassy in Turkey issued a security alert for the area and Israel’s Foreign Ministry condemned the attack, saying that it targeted the Israeli Consulate.
“We appreciate the Turkish security forces’ swift action in thwarting this attack,” the ministry said on X. “Israeli missions around the world have been subjected to countless threats and terrorist attacks. Terror will not deter us.”
The incident comes at a moment of high alert for Jewish and Israeli sites around the world, with terror threats escalated amid the U.S.-Israel war on Iran. Bombings have damaged several Jewish institutions in Europe, with the latest incident being an explosion outside a pro-Israel Christian center in Nijkerk, Netherlands, over the weekend.
This article originally appeared on JTA.org.
The post Attacker killed in gunfight outside closed Israeli consulate in Istanbul appeared first on The Forward.