Light Up the Night, 5772

On the second night of Chanukkah, we participated in a record-shattering event at the Merrick Jewish Centre: The simultaneous lighting of the most Channukah menorahs. The previous record, set in Moscow in 2009, was about 350. This year there were 783 menorahs kindled to celebrate Hanukkah.

You may have noticed the different ways in which the name of the holiday was spelled in the above paragraph. The correct spelling:חנוכה‏

Some government officials were present to verify the numbers and at least three news vans were there. We saw the event televised later that night.

Some people have commented to me that Chanukkah is late this year, but I reminded them that the date of Channukah never changes: It always starts on the 25th of Kislev.



There were easily more than 100 different styles of menorahs, termed 'Channukiahs', lighted that night. Many can be seen in the photos below.