National Hannukah Menorah lit, marking first night of 8-day Jewish holiday

National Menorah Lighting Ceremony

National Menorah Lighting CeremonyIn a festive gathering at 4:00 p.m. Eastern time today, people gathered for the Lighting Ceremony for the National Chanukah (Hannukah) Menorah on the Ellipse, just opposite the White House.

Rev. Rob Schenck of Faith & Action, Washington, DC, captured the Lighting Ceremony, with his video camera (see video embedded below).

December 20 marks the  first night of the eight-day Jewish holiday this year.  The menorah will be lit each night of Hanukkah.

The holiday commemorates the Jewish Maccabees' military victory over Syrian oppression more than 2,000 years ago, when a light miraculously burned for eight days out of one day's worth of oil found in the Temple.


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D. Beeksma

One of the growing crowd of American "nones" herself, Deborah is a prolific writer who finds religion, spirituality and the impact of belief (and non-belief) on culture inspiring, fascinating and at times, disturbing. She hosts the God Discussion show and handles the site's technical work. Her education and background is in business, ecommerce and law.

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