A menorah measuring over six-foot in height has been installed at the Western Wall in Jerusalem’s Old City ahead of Chanukah, which begins on Sunday evening.
The bronze menorah, which measures 6.5 feet in both height and at its widest point, will be lit every evening during the eight-day holiday, which runs until December 22, the Western Wall Heritage Foundation said.
This year, the Chanukah festivities at Judaism’s second-holiest site will be held under the banner of “And the redeemed of the Lord shall return, and they shall come to Zion with song” (Isaiah 51:11), in a reference to the return of the last remaining 20 living captives from Gaza on October 13.
Every evening, a candle-lighting ceremony will be held in the presence of survivors, public figures, injured Israeli soldiers, bereaved families and rabbis, the foundation said in a statement.
The candle-lighting, which will be accompanied by an orchestra, will take place every day at 4:30 pm local time, except for Friday December 19 and Saturday December 20 when the chanukiyah will be lit at 3:30 pm and 8pm respectively because of Shabbat.
All weekday candle-lighting ceremonies will be live-streamed through the official website of the Western Wall Heritage Foundation, it added.
The Chanukah holiday commemorates the story of the Maccabees, the Jewish heroes who led a revolt against the Hellenistic Seleucid Empire that culminated in a military victory and the reconsecration of the Temple on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount around 2,200 years ago.
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