Chanukah Begins at Sunset Saturday

Chabad of the Rivertowns in Dobbs Ferry is offering residents everything they need to know to celebrate the festival of lights, which starts Dec. 8 and ends of Dec. 16. 

The local synagogue has created a holiday guide titled “Chanukah in the Rivertowns” that provides a history on the celebration as well as listing of local Chanukah events, recipes, shopping, games and even menorah lighting tips.

“Chanukah —the eight-day festival of light that begins on the eve of the 25th of the Jewish month of Kislev—celebrates the triumph of light over darkness, of purity over adulteration, of spirituality over materiality,” Chabad’s website says.

Chanukah was started by Jewish sages so that no one would forget the miracle of how a single cruse of olive oil miraculously lasts for eight days during the Jews attempt to drive Greeks from their land and reclaim their Holy Temple in Jerusalem. 

Two prayers, the “Hallel” and “Al HaNissim” are added to the daily prayers to give thanks to God for "delivering the strong into the hands of the weak, the many into the hands of the few... the wicked into the hands of the righteous,” Chabad’s website says.

Click here for the guide to “Chanukah in the Rivertowns” and here for a listing of Rivertowns menorah lighting and other events.

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