Annual Chanukah Celebration Dec. 12 at new location
A new venue was found to host the Annual Chanukah Celebration due to the increased number of attendees at the Chanukah Festival and construction at the previous location. This year the festival will be held at 1716 Cape Coral Parkway, West, near the Cay West Pavilion. This location is ideal for the event as it is easily accessible and can provide plenty of seating for the annually growing number of attendees. It also has sufficient parking for all who attend.
Chabad of Cape Coral will ignite a huge menorah followed by a community-wide celebration on the first night of Chanukah, which falls on Tuesday, Dec. 12. The ceremony, which begins at 5:45 p.m., will feature prominent local community officials and dignitaries. The Chanukah festival will feature a live concert by Singer Yoel Sharabi, a master of modern Israeli and traditional melodies who will entertain the crowd with a mix of traditional Chanukah songs and modern Jewish classics.
Guests can enjoy the music and eat the night away enjoying freshly baked latkes and doughnuts, plus have fun with Chanukah crafts, music, cotton candy and more. There will also be deli sandwiches for sale.
The public menorah lighting is organized by Rabbi Yossi Labkowski of the Chabad Jewish Center, who remarked, “The Menorah serves as a symbol of Cape Coral’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.”
Cape Coral’s menorah is one of thousands of large public menorahs sponsored by Chabad throughout the world, helping children and adults of all walks of life discover and enjoy the holiday message. Chabad of Cape Coral thanks Publix and Trader Joes for their contributions to this event.
About Chanukah
Chanukah, the Festival of Lights, recalls the victory more than 2,100 years ago of a militarily weak but spiritually strong Jewish people who defeated a ruthless enemy that had overrun ancient Israel and sought to impose restrictions on the Jewish way of life, prohibit religious freedom and force the Jewish people to accept a foreign religion. During the occupation of Jerusalem and the Temple, the Syrian Greeks desecrated and defiled the oils prepared for the lighting of the Menorah, which was part of the daily service in the temple.
Upon recapturing the Temple from the Syrian Greeks, the Jewish people found only one jar of undefiled oil, enough to burn only one day, but it lasted miraculously for eight days until new, pure olive oil was produced. In commemoration of this event, the Jewish people celebrate Chanukah for eight days by lighting an eight-branched candelabra known as a Menorah.
The Menorah is placed in highly-visible place to publicize the miracle, with its message of hope and religious freedom, to all. Today, people of all faiths consider the Chanukah holiday as a symbol and message of the triumph of freedom over oppression, of spirit over matter, of light over darkness.
About Chabad Jewish Center – Cape Coral
Chabad Jewish Center offers Jewish education, outreach and social service programming for families and individuals of all ages, backgrounds and affiliations.
For more information, contact Rabbi Yossi Labkowski at 239-963-4770 info@chabadcape.com or visit chabadcape.com.
This event is open to the media and reporters are invited to attend.