Chanukah was the name of the game at sports event this month with a holiday theme, with nights near the ice and courtside all over America.
Here’s a glimpse of just some of the many “Jewish Heritage Nights” and other sports-related programs sponsored by Chabad-Lubavitch centers, all of which included menorah-lightings, holiday food and entertainment for the whole family.
Cleveland
On the first night of Chanukah, nearly 150 people gathered in downtown Cleveland for a public menorah-lighting that featured Cleveland Cavaliers head coach David Blatt, an Israeli-American former basketball player. For years, he coached Maccabi Tel Aviv and other Israeli basketball teams to great success. Mayor Frank G. Jackson also participated in the ceremony, which was sponsored by Chabad of Downtown Cleveland, co-directed by Rabb Yossi and Chaya Freedman. The rabbi introduced Blatt to the crowd before the coach ignited candle No. 1.
Detroit
The fourth annual “Menorah in the D” lighting ceremony drew a whopping 2,500 people to Downtown Detroit on the first night of Chanukah. Congressman Gary Peters, Mayor Mike Duggan, City Councilman Gabe Leland, and Quicken Loans founder and chairman Dan Gilbert, who also owns the Cleveland Cavaliers basketball team, helped start off the festivities, which included entertainment, live music, face-painting, hot cider and doughnuts, and, clawing his way through the crowd, the Detroit Tigers baseball team mascot PAWS. The Shul-Chabad Lubavitch in West Bloomfield, Mich., organized the event with NEXTGen from the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit. It also marked the first year for “Chabad in the D” in its house on Mack Avenue. The 26-foot menorah was built in Corktown by Erik Nordin and Israel Nordin of the Detroit Design Center.
Upper West Side, New York
About 1,000 people came out on the first night of the holiday for “Chanukah on NYC Ice” at Trump Rink (formerly Wollman Rink) in Central Park, an event co-sponsored by Chabad Houses throughout Manhattan. This was the seventh year they’ve held such a program, which was listed on NY.com as one of the “Top 15 Things to Do in the City” in December and also featured in the Dec. 5 edition of The New Yorker. Rabbi Chayim B. Alevsky, co-director of family and youth programming at Chabad of the West Side, lit an ice menorah at the event, which was organized by his wife, Sarah Alevsky.
South Florida
Fans of the Florida Panthers enjoyed the first night of Chanukah next to the ice when the NHL home team played the Washington Capitals. The “Chanukah on Ice” event, sponsored by Chabad centers in South Florida, began with a grand menorah-lighting ceremony at center ice, with the national anthem sung by Cantor Yossi Lebovics. During intermission, the music group Yishai Lapidot & Oif Simchas entertained the crowd, which later also got a taste of the “Maccabee Broom Hockey Match.” Perhaps most exciting of all was the evening’s finale: After a tie at the end of overtime, the game lasted until a record-breaking 20-round shootout, with the Panthers topping the Capitals by a score of 2-1.
San Antonio
The San Antonio Spurs hosted “International Night” on the second night of Chanukah during the Spurs vs. Grizzlies game to promote team diversity and basketball’s global outreach. As part of the program, the Chabad Center for Jewish Life and Learning in San Antonio, Texas, held a special menorah-lighting scheduled on the court after the game. Some 300 tickets were sold to Jewish leaders and community members, according to the Chabad center’s youth directors, Rabbi Levi and Rochel Teldon. Chabad’s executive director, Rabbi Chaim Block, can be seen on the court prior to the menorah-lighting.
New Jersey
Participants at the “Chanukah on Ice” program sponsored by Chabad Lubavitch of Camden and Burlington Counties in New Jersey were personally invited to attend the event by Philadelphia Flyers player Scott Laughton, complete with use of the official Flyers training rink. In a video promo for the Dec. 20 Saturday-night event, which was held at the Flyers Skate Zone in Voorhees, N.J., and attended by 250 people, Laughton wished the Jewish community a “Happy and meaningful Chanukah!” and encouraged them to “come check out the giant ice menorah.” The lighting was organized by Rabbi Mendel and Dinie Mangel, co-directors of the Chabad center; and Chabad emissaries Rabbi Yitzchok and Bailey Kahan. Community member Craig Stoopler assisted Rabbi Mangel with the lighting.
Brooklyn, N.Y.
CTeen “Jewish Heritage Night” took place for the second year in a row at the Barclays Center arena in Brooklyn, N.Y., on the sixth night of Chanukah and the first day of winter. About 6,000 Jewish individuals came to see the Brooklyn Nets—out of a total of 20,000 people who attended the game—and to celebrate the holiday. Highlights included a menorah-lighting ceremony with a giant-sized orange basketball menorah; a halftime Rabbis vs. Teens basketball game; and the national anthem performed by Chassidic Cantor Yaakov “Yanky” Lemmer of Lincoln Square Synagogue in New York City. CTeen’s 36 tri-state chapters helped with ball delivery and starred in the halftime game, and fans of all ages got a chance to take a shot on the court.
At the Barclays Center for “Jewish Heritage Night,” above, are CTeens from Fairfield, Conn., with CTeen director Rabbi Shimon Rivkin, far right, and to his left, Rabbi Shlame Landa, co-director of Chabad of Fairfield.
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