Fashion Island to Light the Menorah on Sunday

In the first event, Chabad of Placer County will publicly illuminate a massive Menorah at Roseville’s Westfield Galleria at 6 p.m., followed by a free, community-wide celebration, as it’s the second night of Chanukah.

Members of the community are invited to the event, which will include a fire and ice show, music, snacks, arts and crafts, prizes and more.

The celebration is Monday, Dec. 7 from 5:30 to 7 p.m.at the Whitby Public Library, 405 Dundas St. W., Whitby.

“The celebration begins with holiday musical performance by a group of young special needs children from the Friendship Circle”, a news release said.

This initiative is sponsored by Chabad Jewish Student Center at KSU, as part of their holiday awareness campaign. “The program is always very popular with the parents and kids; they come and learn about the holiday and celebrate in an interactive way, and the kids love it because they really have a lot of fun”. The ceremony will also feature the lighting of the nine foot Menorah, hot latkes, donuts, dreidels and Gelt.

Hanukkah also propagates the universal message that ultimately, good will prevail over evil, freedom over oppression, and light over darkness.

When they sought to light the Temple’s menorah, they found only a single cruse of olive oil that had escaped contamination, miraculously, the one-day supply burned for eight days, until new oil could be prepared under conditions of ritual purity.

Chanukkah, the Festival of Lights, for many of us brings back fond memories of childhood years and serves to renew our sense of identity.