Menorah Car Parade to Kick Off Town Hall Menorah Lighting
DEDHAM, MA — To celebrate the 2022 Chanukah holiday, the Dedham community will be having a Car Menorah Parade departing from Dedham Square culminating at the annual public Menorah lighting which will be held this year for the first time in front of the Dedham Town Hall on Sunday, December 18th. The parade will begin at 4 pm and the lighting will be held at 5 pm.
The parade route will travel via the main thoroughfares of Dedham, including High Street, Washington Street, Eastern Avenue and Boston Providence Highway in a unique Chanukah celebration promoting holiday awareness. The parade will end at the grand menorah lighting and celebration.
Following the menorah lighting, participants will dance and sing to Chanukah music and enjoy a fare of traditional holiday foods, including donuts and hot cider.
Last year the parade was a great success and it brought the awareness of Chanukah to a whole new level so we decided to do it again this year, said Chanie Krinsky, co-director of the Chabad Jewish Center.
The Car Menorah Parade and annual Menorah lighting are part of the worldwide Chanukah campaign, an initiative launched by the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory, in 1973. The campaign highlights and encourages the central theme of the holiday — publicizing the story of the Chanukah miracle.
Today, the unprecedented public display of Chanukah has become a staple of Jewish cultural and religious life, forever altering the American practice and awareness of the festival. This year, Chabad-Lubavitch will set up more than 15,000 large public menorahs in more than 100 countries around the world, including in front of landmarks such as the White House, the Eiffel Tower, and the Kremlin.
The menorah parade and lighting ceremony are open to the greater community. For more information, visit www.jewishneedham.com.
WHAT: Car Parade and Menorah Lighting
WHERE: Parade starting at Dedham Square, Menorah Lighting at Dedham Town Hall 450 Washington St, Dedham, MA 02026
WHEN: Sunday, December 18th. Parade begins at 4 pm. Lighting will be held at 5 pm.
ABOUT CHANUKAH
Chanukah, the Festival of Lights, begins this year on the evening of Thursday, December 10 and concludes the evening of Friday, December 18. It recalls the victory of a militarily weak Jewish people who defeated the Syrian-Greeks who had overrun ancient Israel and sought to impose restrictions on the Jewish way of life and prohibit religious freedom. They also desecrated and defiled the Temple and the oil prepared for the lighting of the Menorah, which was part of the daily service. Upon recapturing the Temple only one jar of undefiled oil was found, enough to burn only one day, but it lasted miraculously for eight. In commemoration Jews celebrate Chanukah for eight days by lighting an eight-branched candelabra known as a Menorah. Today, people of all faiths consider the holiday a symbol and message of the triumph of freedom over oppression, of spirit over matter, of light over darkness. Additional information about the Chanukah holiday is available at www.chanukah.org
ABOUT THE SPONSORING ORGANIZATION
The 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 Mendy Krinsky at (781) 455-9096 or visit www.jewishneedham.com
