In accordance with the longstanding tradition, Chabad emissaries and chassidim in Tel Aviv bring the light of the Hanukkah candles to the city’s residents, and every evening the candles are lit in 156 central menorahs that have been placed in the public sphere with the approval of the municipality, from Jaffa in the south to the northern neighborhoods. Hundreds of thousands of the city’s residents are exposed to this massive pirsumei nissa.
The main lighting takes place every evening at 7:30 p.m. Israel time (Saturday night at 8 p.m.) in the huge menorah that was placed in Dizengoff Square in the heart of Tel Aviv.
Following the Jewish custom, every evening after the lighting, donuts and Hanukkah “gelt” are distributed to the children.
According to Rabbi Yosef Gerlitsky, the head emissary of the Lubavitcher Rebbe to Tel Aviv-Yafo, the menorah lighting carries on a tradition initiated by the Lubavitcher Rebbe in the 1970s to celebrate Hanukkah through public menorah lightings. By publicizing the Hanukkah miracle, these public celebrations aim to encourage Jews to take pride in their Judaism and share Hanukkah’s message of the power of light over darkness with a wide audience.
The Tel Aviv Municipality website publishes the central locations of the lightings and invites the city’s residents.
