Hanukkah Arrives in D.C. With National Menorah Lighting (photos)
By • December 13, 2017 0 1998
In chilly weather on Tuesday, Dec. 12, the first night of the eight-day Jewish holiday, thousands attended the 2017 National Hanukkah Menorah lighting ceremony on the Ellipse. Hanukkah always begins at sunset on the 25th day of the month of Kislev, according to the Jewish lunar calendar.
This year marked the 39th lighting of the National Hanukkah Menorah, dating back to 1979 when Jimmy Carter was president. Hanukkah celebrates the Jewish Maccabees’ military victory over Greek-Syrian oppression more than 2,000 years ago. A candle is lit each night of the eight-day celebration, commemorating the miracle of one day’s supply of oil lasting a full eight days in the lamp following the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem.
Braving bone-chilling winds, White House chief economic adviser Gary Cohn helped light the candles atop the 30-foot-high National Menorah with the aid of a special elevator. He was flanked by Rabbi Levi Shemtov, executive vice president of American Friends of Lubavitch (Chabad), and his father, Rabbi Abraham Shemtov, the organization’s national director.
The United States Air Force Band and the “Three Cantors” provided the musical backdrop. Mushka Landa of Fairfield, Connecticut, and Elias Greenwood of Huntington Beach, California, read their prize-winning essays on “What Hanukkah Means to Me.” The popular Dreidelman made his usual appearance. A dreidel is a spinning top with, on its four sides, the first letters of the Hebrew words for “a great miracle happened there.” After the ceremony, attendees were treated to the traditional potato pancakes, known as latkes, and jelly doughnuts, known as sufganiyot.
View Jeff Malet’s photos from the National Menorah lighting ceremony by clicking on the photo icons below.
-
- White House chief economic adviser Gary Cohn helped light the candles atop the 30 foot high National Menorah with the aid of a special elevator. He is flanked by Rabbi Levi Shemtov (left), executive vice president of American Friends of Lubavitch (Chabad) and Rabbi Abraham Shemtov (right), the organization’s national director. (photo by Jeff Malet)
-
- White House chief economic adviser Gary Cohn (right) loses his skull cap (yarmulke) to the wind as he helped light the candles atop the 30 foot high National Menorah with the aid of a special elevator. He is joined by Rabbi Levi Shemtov (left), executive vice president of American Friends of Lubavitch (Chabad) and Rabbi Abraham Shemtov (center), the organization’s national director. (photo by Jeff Malet)
-
- Thousands attended the 2017 National Hanukkah Menorah lighting ceremony on the Ellipse, just across from the White House in Washington D.C. on the first night of the eight-day Jewish holiday in chilly weather. (photo by Jeff Malet)
-
- Beryl Yan (left) and Mendel Kreitenberg are dressed as Maccabee soldiers at the 2017 National Hanukkah Menorah lighting ceremony on the Ellipse. Hanukkah celebrates the Jewish Maccabees’ military victory over Greek-Syrian oppression more than 2,000 years ago. (photo by Jeff Malet)
-
- Dreidelman makes an appearance. The dreidel is a spinning top whose letters stand for the first Hebrew letters of the words “a great miracle happened there.” (photo by Jeff Malet)
-
- Alan Randall of Washington D.C. says “Let’s Get Lit” (photo by Jeff Malet)
-
- Rabbi Levi Shemtov, executive vice president of American Friends of Lubavitch (Chabad), with essay-contest winner Elias Greenwood (photo by Jeff Malet)
-
- White House chief economic adviser Gary Cohn helped light the candles atop the 30 foot high National Menorah with the aid of a special elevator. He is flanked by Rabbi Levi Shemtov (left), executive vice president of American Friends of Lubavitch (Chabad) and Rabbi Abraham Shemtov (right), the organization’s national director. (photo by Jeff Malet)
-
- The National Park Service was on hand to help during the celebration. (photo by Jeff Malet)
-
- Winter Kosz of Arlington Va. enjoys potato latkes and jelly doughnuts (photo by Jeff Malet)
-
- White House chief economic adviser Gary Cohn helped light the candles atop the 30 foot high National Menorah with the aid of a special elevator. He is flanked by Rabbi Levi Shemtov (left), executive vice president of American Friends of Lubavitch (Chabad) and Rabbi Abraham Shemtov (right), the organization’s national director. (photo by Jeff Malet)
-
- Rabbi Levi Shemtov, executive vice president of American Friends of Lubavitch (Chabad), delivers remarks to those assembled for the 2017 National Hanukkah Menorah lighting ceremony on the Ellipse (photo by Jeff Malet)
-
- White House chief economic adviser Gary Cohn delivers remarks to an assembled crowd before helping to light the candles on the first night. (photo by Jeff Malet)
-
- Mushka Landa (Fairfield Conn.) reads her award winner essay “What Hanukkah Means to Me” (photo by Jeff Malet)
-
- Mushka Landa (Fairfield Conn.) reads her award winner essay “What Hanukkah Means to Me” (photo by Jeff Malet)
-
- Dreidelman makes an appearance at the National Menorah lighting ceremony on Dec. 12. Photo by Jeff Malet.
-
- Lincoln (8), Delilah (5) and Stacie Isaacs of Ashburn Va. were among the thousands who attended the 2017 National Hanukkah Menorah lighting ceremony on the Ellipse. It was Stacie’s 10th year attending the event. (photo by Jeff Malet)
-
- Xena Seghal (age 8) of Washington D.C. helps herself to hot potato latkes (photo by Jeff Malet)
-
- Dreidelman says hello to 3 year old Joshua Rogger at the 2017 National Hanukkah Menorah lighting ceremony. (photo by Jeff Malet)
-
- Happy Chanukah (photo by Jeff Malet)
