Overview of
Menorah Lighting at Downtown Summerlin
Rabbi Chaim Ozer Metal Kindling the Menorah at Downtown Summerlin
Presented By
Chabad of Summerlin Rabbi Yisroel Schanowitz
Chabad of Red Rock Rabbi Yosef Rivkin
(702) 855-0770 rabbi@ChabadofSummerlin.com
(702) 217-2170 rabbi@ChabadRedRock.com
.‌ the message of the Chanukah Lights will illuminate the everyday life of everyone personally, and of the society at large, for a brighter life in every respect ... Page 1
ב"ה Table of Contents Chabad Summerlin Public Menorah Committee.......................................................................................2 The Menorah..............................................................................................................................................3 Executive Summary...................................................................................................................................4 History of Chanukah..................................................................................................................................4 History of Chabad......................................................................................................................................4 The Rebbe.........................................................................................................................................5 Chabad in Nevada.............................................................................................................................6 Chabad in Summerlin.......................................................................................................................7 Menorah Lighting at Downtown Summerlin.............................................................................................8 Ceremony..........................................................................................................................................8 Entertainment....................................................................................................................................9 Other Menorah Lighting Events in Nevada ............................................................................................11 Other Chanukah Events in Nevada..........................................................................................................12 Menorah Lighting Events Around the World...........................................................................................13 Letter from The Lubavitcher Rebbe.........................................................................................................16 Glossary...................................................................................................................................................17
Chabad Summerlin Public Menorah Committee (In formation)
Rabbi Yosef Rivkin, Director of Chabad of Red Rock Rabbi Yisroel Schanowitz, Director of Chabad of Summerlin BenTzion Novack, Chairman David Brownstein, PsyD Laura Walther Kligman, Esq. Marc Leittner, MD
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The Menorah The Chanukah menorah, also chanukiah or hanukkiah, is a nine-branched lamp lit during the eight-day holiday of Hanukkah, as opposed to the seven-branched menorah used in the ancient Temple or as a symbol. On each night of Chanukah a new branch is lit. The ninth holder, called the shamash ("helper" or "servant"), is for a candle used to light all other candles and/or to be used as an extra light. To be kosher the shamash must be offset on a higher or lower plane than the main eight candles or oil lamps. The menorah is among the most widely produced articles of Jewish ceremonial art. In the United States, the public display of menorot and Christmas trees on public grounds has been the source of legal battles. Specifically, in the 1989 County of Allegheny v. ACLU case, the majority of the US Supreme Court ruled that the public display of menorot and Christmas trees did not violate the Establishment Clause because the two symbols were not endorsements of the Jewish or Christian faith, rather the two items are part of the same winter-holiday season, which, the court found, had attained a secular status in U.S. Society.
A diagram for the Menorah based on the Rambam (Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon) also known as Maimonides.
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legal scholar, physician, philosopher and mystic.
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Century Talmudist,
humanitarian needs in over 1,000 cities, spanning 80 countries and 49 of the 50 United States. Chabad institutions provide outreach to unaffiliated Jews, humanitarian aid, and religious, cultural and educational activities at Chabad run community centers, synagogues, schools, camps, health centers, drug rehab centers and soup kitchens. It is important to note that Chabad does not proselytize nor try to convert those not of their religion. That would imply that everybody needs to be Jewish in order to make a relationship with G-d, and "get to heaven." This is not so.
The Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson (April 5, 1902 – June 12, 1994 ), known to many only as the Rebbe, a Russian Empire-born American Orthodox Jewish rabbi. He is considered many as the most influential Jewish leaders of the 20th century. As leader of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, he took an insular Hasidic group that almost came to an end with the Holocaust and transformed it into one of the most influential movements in world Jewry, The institutions he established include kindergartens, schools, drug-rehabilitation centers, care-homes for the disabled and synagogues. The Rebbe's published teachings fill more than 300 volumes and he is noted for his contributions to Jewish continuity and religious thought, as well as his wide-ranging contributions to traditional Torah scholarship. He is recognized as the pioneer of Jewish outreach. In 1978, the U.S. Congress asked President Carter to designate The Rebbe's birthday as the national Education Day U.S.A.. It has been since commemorated as Education and Sharing Day. In 1994, he was posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for his "outstanding and lasting contributions toward improvements in world education, morality, and acts of charity."
Congressional Gold Medal
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Chabad in Nevada
Rabbi Harlig visiting with Senator Harry Reid
In 1990 the Lubavitcher Rebbe appointed Rabbi Shea and Mrs. Dina Harlig his representatives to Southern Nevada. As such, Rabbi Harlig is the founder and regional director of Chabad of Southern Nevada, a major Jewish outreach organization in Las Vegas now with a dozen Las Vegas Valley centers. Programming includes daily services, adult education, holiday celebrations, Hebrew school and day camps, chaplaincy at state and county prisons, hospital visitations, and crisis counseling. Events are geared for all ages, from infants and toddlers to senior citizens. Rabbi Harlig organized the Vaad Hakashrus of Las Vegas which provides Kosher supervision to many local kosher restaurants, markets and catering facilities. He is also the founder and dean of Desert Torah Academy Day School, which has an enrollment of 275 children, preschool through eighth grade in a breathtakingly beautiful new facility.
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Chabad in Summerlin It became evident that the Summerlin area would draw thousands of new residents to the Las Vegas Valley and in 1995 Rabbi Harlig asked Rabbi Yisroel and Mrs. Shternie Schanowitz to establish Chabad's presence in the area. They opened a small storefront to serve as a synagogue, office, classroom and meeting space. The space rapidly filled with people attending services, lectures and social events; the need for a permanent space was obvious.
In 2006 Chabad of Summerlin/Desert Shores opened it's doors at the corner of Breakwater and Regatta, an elegant Jerusalem-stone structure considered by many to be one of the most beautiful synagogues in the USA. In addition to a synagogue, the building includes a spacious social hall and catering kitchen, classrooms, offices, mikvah and library. Regular events include Mommy and Me for preschoolers, Youth Zone and C-teens for school students, JLI accredited adult education and programs for Seniors.
As Summerlin expanded, the Red Rock neighborhood became home to the most recently established Chabad Center in Southern Nevada. Chabad of Red Rock is still in fledgling stage, with occasional services and other Jewish events running out of the living room of Rabbi Yosef and Binie Rivkin. The Rivkins moved to the area in December of 2015, and have since seen over 100 people pass through their doors.
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Menorah Lighting at Downtown Summerlin
Ceremony Lt. Gov.Hutchison, Congressman Heck, Commissioner Brager, State Senators Farley and Harris
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Entertainment
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Other Menorah Lighting Events in Nevada
Rabbi Harlig with Mayor C. Goodman
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Other Chanukah Events in Nevada Senator Reid; Rabbi Harlig with Governor Brian Sandoval and Supreme Chief Justice Michael Cherry
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Menorah Lighting Events Around the World Washington DC, Paris
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Central Park, NYC; Hong Kong
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Rome, London (Trafalgar Square)
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Letter from The Lubavitcher Rebbe By the Grace of G-d On the eve of Chanukah, 5741 [1980] Brooklyn, NY To all Participants in the Public Lighting of the Chanukah Menorah in the USA Greeting and Blessing! Chanukah, the Festival of Lights, recalls the victory—more than 2100 years ago—of a militarily weak but spiritually strong Jewish people over the mighty forces of a ruthless enemy that had overrun the Holy Land and threatened to engulf the land and its people in darkness. The miraculous victory—culminating with the dedication of the Sanctuary in Jerusalem and the rekindling of the Menorah which had been desecrated and extinguished by the enemy—has been celebrated annually ever since during these eight days of Chanukah, especially by lighting the Chanukah Menorah, also as a symbol and message of the triumph of freedom over oppression, of spirit over matter, of light over darkness. It is a timely and reassuring message, for the forces of darkness are ever present. Moreover, the danger does not come exclusively from outside; it often lurks close to home, in the form of insidious erosion of time-honored values and principles that are at the foundation of any decent human society. Needless to say, darkness is not chased away by brooms and sticks, but by illumination. Our sages said, “A little light expels a lot of darkness.” The Chanukah Lights remind us in a most obvious way that illumination begins at home, within oneself and one’s family, by increasing and intensifying the light of Torah and Mitzvos in the everyday experience, even as the Chanukah Lights are kindled in growing numbers from day to day. But though it begins at home, it does not stop there. Such is the nature of light that when one kindles the Chanukah Lights are expressly meant to illuminate the “outside,” symbolically alluding to the duty to bring light also to those who, for one reason or another, still walk in darkness. What is true of the individual is true of a nation, especially this great United States, united under G-d, and generously blessed by G-d with material as well as spiritual riches. It is surely the duty and privilege of this Nation to promote all the forces of light both at home and abroad, and in a steadily growing measure. Let us pray that the message of the Chanukah Lights will illuminate the everyday life of everyone personally, and of the society at large, for a brighter life in every respect, both materially and spiritually. With esteem and blessing in the spirit of Chanukah M. Schneerson Page 16
Glossary B.C.E. Before the Common Era Chanukah [khah-nuh-kuh] Sometimes spelled Hanukkah; Lit: Dedication (Hebrew) Chasidic [khəˈsɪdɪk] Sometimes spelled Chassidic, Hassidic, Hasidic; characterized by religious zeal and a spirit of prayer, joy, and charity Dreidel A four-sided top bearing Hebrew letters, used chiefly in a children's game traditionally played on the Jewish festival of Chanukah
G-d The custom of substituting the letter "o" with “-” in “G-d” in English is based on the traditional practice in Jewish law of giving God's Hebrew name a high degree of respect and reverence. Hasmonean [haz-muh-nee-uh n] A member of a priestly family of Jewish rulers and leaders in Judea in the 1st and 2nd centuries b.c.e. Latke(s) [laht-kuh] A pancake, especially one made of grated potato.
Mitzvah (pl: Mitzvot) [mits-vuh] The collection of commandments or precepts in the Bible and additional ones of rabbinic origin; or (informally) any good or praiseworthy deed Rebbe [reb-he] The leader of a Chassidic sect; or an individual's chosen spiritual mentor
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