"Operation Chanukah” sent thousands of young Chabad-Lubavitch men and boys out to the hills and valleys in the Land of Israel last week, bringing light to Israel Defense Forces bases large and small, while every one of the 289 Chabad centers in Israel was busy bringing the light of Chanukah to Jews around the country.
All across Israel, high school students, their counselors, teachers, principals and other rabbis set forth to visit IDF troops with menorahs, candles, candies and other treats in hand.
"Our group went to a couple of small outposts in the hills of Shomron (Samaria),” said Zalmen Julian, a student at the Tomchei Temimim Yeshiva in the northern Israeli town of Immanuel. "We danced and sang with soldiers who were stationed in outposts no larger than my living room at home. They were so happy to see us!”
The boys and the rabbis who led them lit Chanukah candles with the soldiers, and handed out the traditional Israeli “sufganiyot” (puffy, jelly-filled doughnuts fried in oil), packages of sweets and a brochure with information about the holiday and its blessings.
Hundreds of thousands of menorahs were also distributed to IDF soldiers at military bases from the northernmost part of the Golan Heights, to Israel's southernmost tip, past Eilat.
Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Aharonov, director of the Lubavitch Youth Organization in Israel, noted that the massive operation was intended to bring the light of the holiday and G‑d's commandments to every corner of the country each year, in following calls issued by the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory.
Chanukah activities around Israel
Every one of the 289 Chabad Houses in Israel was busy with activities –including the installation of a glowing electric menorah on the roof of each “Chanukah Mobile.” The iconic vehicles are famous – and expected to be seen each year – as volunteers drove the Chanukah-lit Chabad-mobiles around city centers, shopping malls, medical centers, nursing homes and even prisons, bringing Chanukah light to Jews around the country.
Likewise, municipal officials and other notables gathered in thousands of cities and towns to light public menorahs, accompanied by Chabad-Lubavitch emissaries around the country.
In Tel Aviv, a laser-projected menorah was positioned so that every person on the Tel Aviv-Jerusalem Highway and anyone departing from Ben Gurion International Airport could view its glow. The menorah, which lit up the entire Dan region, was facilitated by Environmental Protection Minister Gilad Erdan, Manager Esti Appelbaum and Park CEO Moshe Borochov, along with the help of Rabbi Yaakov Gloiberman.
Perched on a large hill in the government-run Ariel Sharon Park, the menorah is 100 meters wide and “lit” by the Gil Teichman Lighting group. Its “blaze” can be seen at a height of 10 miles.
In Jerusalem alone, more than 50 public menorahs were lit each night at landmark locations around the holy city.
Residents and tourists from around the world gathered by the hundreds to celebrate the Festival of Lights atop the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem, at the Tower of David, and in the capital's iconic Zion Square.
In each location, there was music, dancing, food and fun-filled activities to keep both children and adults warm and smiling. Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat topped the list of city dignitaries who graced the candle-lighting ceremony at Zion Square together with Deputy Mayor Rabbi Yaakov Halperin, accompanied by Chabad-Lubavitch emissary Rabbi Naftali Roth.
A delegation of Chabad-Lubavitch emissaries led by Rabbi Aharonov shared the spirit of the holiday with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, presenting the nation's leader with a scale model of the menorah that was lit at the time of the ancient Holy Temple.
The prime minister was also presented with a small booklet explaining the eternal meaning of Chanukah, and with a copy of a letter once sent to him during Chanukah by the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory, in which activities for the entire Land of Israel were listed.
Netanyahu expressed his deep pleasure at the gift, saying the Rebbe's “solid positions” always remain with him. The prime minister added that the Rebbe's positions “give me the strength to stand strong for the important needs of our People, Israel and the Land, despite the pressures of the world.”
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