Creative kickoff
Jews celebrate the start of Hanukkah by lighting menorahs, traditional and whimsical
Staff Photographer
Rabbi Binyomin Weiss of Chabad Lubavitch of North Carolina puts a lamp over the first lighted candle in the menorah during a Chanukah celebration sponsored by Congregation Ohr HaTorah at SouthPark Mall on Tuesday evening.
Hanukkah -- the eight-day Jewish Festival of Lights -- began Tuesday at sundown. Among the revelers: members of Congregation Ohr HaTorah, an Orthodox synagogue in south Charlotte.
In the ceremony at SouthPark mall, Rabbi Binyomin Weiss lights the first candle in a 7-foot-high menorah of 613 kosher canned goods. The eats will be donated to Jewish Family Services. Before the lighting, members decorated cars for a parade. At left, Asher Lipsitz gives a thumbs up after plugging in a car-topping menorah.
On Hanukkah, Jews mark the Israelites' victory over their Syrian-Greek oppressors more than 2,000 years ago. Another holiday custom: Families play games with a dreidel (Yiddish for spinning top).
Tim Funk
Click Here for link to article
