For the 25th consecutive year, Chabad-Lubavitch of Boca Raton will put up a public menorah at Town Center Mall (6000 Glades Road) in Boca Raton, to be highlighted by a community-wide candlelighting celebration at 6 p.m. on Dec. 18, which will take place in the mall directly across from the Saks Fifth Avenue store.
The candlelighting ceremony will feature a menorah lighting by Congressman Ted Deutch, followed by a special Hanukkah Puppet Show for children. There also will be traditional Hanukkah foods, such as latkes and sufganiyot (“jelly doughnuts”), as well as dreidels for all.
According to the Chabad sect of Orthodox Judaism, the menorah serves as a universal symbol of religious freedom.
Rabbi Arele Gopin of the Chabad of Boca Raton said the Town Center menorah is one of more than 10,000 large public menorahs being lit worldwide that are sponsored by the Chabad movement to help children and adults of all walks of life discover and enjoy the message of Hanukkah.
Gopin stated: “Our menorah is a symbol of Boca Raton’s dedication to preserve and encourage the right and liberty of all its citizens to worship G-d freely, openly and with pride. Specifically, in America — a nation that was founded upon and vigorously protects the right of every person to practice his or her religion free from restraint and persecution — the menorah takes on profound significance, embodying both religious and Constitutional principles.”
Chabad member Alanna Rubin, of Boca Raton, whose children are eagerly looking forward to the public menorah lighting, commented, “I want my kids to grow up with pride in their Jewish heritage and a feeling of equality and self-confidence as Americans. Chabad-Lubavitch’s Hanukkah menorahs are arguably one of the most important developments to my children’s Jewish pride. I wish they had this where I grew up.”
According to Chabad literature, the requirement to position Hanukkah menorahs at the door or window symbolizes our desire to give the Hanukkah miracle a “high profile.”
As stated on http://www.chabad.org: “There’s only one holiday whose primary mitzvah is PR-oriented, whose message is meant to be advertised and broadcasted, and that is Hanukkah. Originally, the sages who established Hanukkah instituted that the menorah be lit at the entranceway to one’s home. The concept of pirsumei nissa, ‘the publicizing of the miracle,’ is, and always was, part and parcel of Hanukkah.”
Throughout the state of Florida, Chabad will be presenting scores of other Hanukkah events and celebrations, including public menorah lightings at the Miami Heat game, giant menorahs made out of ice and Legos, “Menorah Parades,” “Latkes Parties,” “Giant Dreidel Houses” and “Hanukkah Wonderlands.”
Chabad of Central Boca Raton also will have a Grand Hanukkah Celebration at its center (17950 Military Trail), with the welcoming of a new “Sefer Torah” (Torah scroll), as dedicated by philanthropist Leonardo Farkas, at 6 p.m. on Dec. 17. For the celebration, there will be live music, dancing and a sit-down Hanukkah dinner. Admission is free.
Continuing with the theme of “Sharing the Light of the Holiday,” there will be a “Menorah Car Parade” on Tuesday, Dec. 23, where everyone can have their car fitted with a car-top menorah, and then parade through the streets of Boca Raton sharing the light and joy of the holiday of Hanukkah.
The parade will leave from Chabad of Central Boca Raton at 6 p.m. The menorahs will get picked up at 5:30 p.m. Receive a Hanukkah CD to listen to as you cruise along. Chabad of Central Boca Raton is located at 17950 Military Trail, near the northeast corner of Clint Moore Road, behind the Shops at Addison Court.
For more information about this local schedule of Hanukkah events, visit http://www.chabadofbocaraton/chanukah or call 561-994-6257.