Brooklyn Boro

Public menorah lightings around the globe include Brooklyn events

December 16, 2014 Associated Press
Hanukkah begins Tuesday night. AP photo
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Public Hanukkah celebrations are being planned around the U.S. and abroad, including one hosted by the Brooklyn Nets and a menorah lighting and concert at the Eiffel Tower.

The Brooklyn Nets event will take place on Dec. 21. Other Hanukkah events are scheduled for the NBA arenas of the Miami Heat, Orlando Magic, San Antonio Spurs, Houston Rockets, Dallas Mavericks and Atlanta Hawks, as well as the NHL arenas of the Nashville Predators, Detroit Red Wings and the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Following a tradition sponsored and organized by Chabad Lubavitch in Brooklyn, a giant menorah will be lit each night of Hanukkah at Grand Army Plaza, beginning Dec. 16. According to chabadparkslope.com, all eight nights of the holiday will be “celebrated with live music, hot latkes and gifts for the children.” The Dec. 16 lighting will take place at 6 p.m.  Chabad is a Jewish outreach organization that sponsors hundreds of events around the world.

Another celebration sponsored by Chabad is planned to take place in Philadelphia on Dec. 20.  The event is expected to include a parade of 300 menorah-topped cars, culminating in a gathering at Independence Hall.  

Nightly lightings are also planned in U.S. cities ranging from San Francisco, at Union Square; to New York City, just outside Central Park near the Plaza Hotel; to Washington, D.C., on the Ellipse.

International events range from a menorah lighting Dec. 18 geared to vacationers in Aruba, at the terminal where international cruises dock, to a celebration in Moscow in Revolution Square on Dec. 16. Thirteen menorahs in all will be erected around Moscow for the holiday. Crowds in London’s Trafalgar Square are expected for the lighting of a 30-foot menorah outfitted with environmentally-friendly bulbs commissioned by the London Climate Change Agency. Another lighting is planned with a concert in Paris at the Eiffel Tower Dec. 21.

The eight-day Jewish holiday of Hanukkah begins at sundown Dec. 16. The public menorahs will be lit each night, but the exact timing varies due to observances of the Jewish Sabbath on Friday and Saturday nights and other scheduling details, so check before you go at www.hanukkah.org/events .

-Additional information from chabadparkslope.com.

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