We are pleased to present to our readers an inspiring overview video dedicated to the lighting of Hanukkah candles in the Gallery of the “Menorah” center throughout all the days of Hanukkah-5786. This video allows us to once again relive the bright emotions and feel the atmosphere of the Hanukkah miracle and festive unity that prevailed in Dnipro during those days.
Recall that every evening of Hanukkah, with the exception of the evening of the sixth candle, which fell on Friday, large-scale festive events took place in the Gallery of the “Menorah” center, in which hundreds of members of the Dnipro Jewish Community and city guests participated. The celebrations began with a welcoming word from the host and the viewing of a video of the leader of our generation, the Seventh Lubavitcher Rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson. This was followed by the Chief Rabbi of Dnipro and the region, Shmuel Kaminezki, presenting the esteemed community member honored to perform, with blessings, the main commandment of the holiday – the kindling of the Hanukkah lights.
The first candle of Hanukkah was lit by Yosef David Belyaev; on the second evening, the candles were lit by Boris Markov; on the third – by Fedir Tkachman; the four candles of the holiday were lit by Chaim Zaidner; the fifth candle – by Nathan Zolotarevsky; the seventh – by Shlomo Chertok; and all eight candles on the final evening of Hanukkah were lit by Reuven Kapustin.
After the lighting of the main silver Hanukkiah at the intersection of the Galleries of the “Menorah” center, a ceremony for lighting the small Hanukkiah took place every evening, conducted by emissaries of the Lubavitcher Rebbe working in our city. On the first evening of the holiday, the small Hanukkiah was lit by Rabbi Levi Karelenshtein; on the second – by Yosef Nachshon; on the third – by Rabbi Moishe Noiman; on the fourth evening of Hanukkah – by Nathan Lazarev; on the fifth – by Reb Yitzchak Maltsev; on the seventh – by Rabbi Moishe Litsengurt; and at the conclusion of the holiday, the Hanukkah candles were lit by Rabbi Akiva Romanovsky.
Honored guests of the Dnipro Jewish Community participated in the festive events – a high-ranking Israeli delegation headed by Hennadii Polishchuk, Head of the Consular Department of the Israeli government service “Nativ” under the Ministry of the Prime Minister of Israel, as well as Mark Dovev, Head of the “Nativ” representative office in Ukraine, Advisor to the Embassy of the State of Israel in Ukraine. Among the guests were also participants of the popular video project – the first Jewish reality show “Menorah.”
In the Gallery of the “Menorah” center, all those present were treated to traditional Hanukkah treats, and a rich program with games, workshops, quizzes, contests, and other activities was organized for the children.
The festive mood each evening was created by performances from musical groups that performed popular Jewish and Hanukkah melodies, as well as famous hits from various years. The celebrations featured performances by the vocal duo of Vlada Tarantsova and Denys Baskin, the Dnipro klezmer band, the “Royal Orchestra,” the exclusive project “DJ Hypnotic+Andrii Makarov (clarinet),” the instrumental duo of Kyrylo Darmin (violin) and Yevhen Zhylyi (accordion), and on the final evening of Hanukkah – the vocal trio “Simcha.”
Traditionally, each evening of the holiday concluded with a grand Hanukkah lottery with wonderful prizes, which sparked sincere enthusiasm in both adults and children.
In the presented video, you can see how these unforgettable Hanukkah evenings unfolded and once again feel the energy and emotions of the eight-day miracle, which was gifted to our city by the united and cohesive Dnipro Jewish Community under the leadership of its Rav, Shmuel Kaminezki.
