World’s Largest Menorah

This week, people around the world are celebrating Hanukkah, the Jewish festival of lights, by lighting menorahs. Most menorahs are small enough to fit on a table or a windowsill, but New York City is home to two of the world’s largest menorahs! One is at the southeast corner of Central Park in Manhattan, and the other is in Park Slope, Brooklyn. Both menorahs are 32 feet tall, the maximum size allowed by Jewish law, so there has been a friendly rivalry between the two sites for decades. The Guinness Book of World Records gave the honor of the record to the Central Park menorah back in 2006, even though the Brooklyn menorah is actually a few inches taller. The lighting of the Central Park menorah on the first night of Hanukkah was celebrated with music, dancing, and a parade of cars driving up Sixth Avenue.

Happy Chanukah!

Grand Army Plaza in Brooklyn, New York.

Last night I visited the World's Largest Menorah at Grand Army Plaza in Brooklyn, just north of Prospect Park. At thirty-two feet tall (the maximum allowed by Jewish law), this Menorah, sponsored by the Chabad in Brooklyn, has been a yearly tradition in Grand Army Plaza since 1985. With assistance from a Con Edison cherry-picker, Rabbi Shimon Hecht is joined by community leaders, philanthropists, and special guests in the lighting ceremony. Every night the celebration is accompanied with live music and hot latkes for all, and special gifts are distributed to every child.