By COLlive reporter
This year represents, by far, the most successful series of events and programs ever in honor of Chanukah in the Nation’s capital.
The annual lighting ceremony of the National Menorah on the White House Ellipse, with special guests Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, and New York Mayor Eric Adams and a social media influencer who boasts close to 15 million followers.
The Three Cantors, Benny Rogosnitzky, Nissim Saal and Berel Zucker, were accompanied with special Chanukah selections by The “Presidents Own” US Marine Band led by Col. Jason K. Fettig, USMC. Maestro Avremie Gourarie served as the Musical Director for the event.
Rabbi Levi Shemtov, Executive Vice President of American Friends of Lubavitch (Chabad), sponsor of the National Menorah, served as the emcee of the program.
The winners of the Rabbi Mendy Deren National Menorah Essay Contest were Shalom Mentz, a 4th Grader in Chaya Mushka Children’s House – Atlanta, Georgia, and Sarah Balanoff, a 5th Grader at New York Hebrew – New York, NY.
Also featured, in addition to Dreidelman, were the highest-ranking officers in Tzivos Hashem, Shterna Sarah Raskin of Baltimore, MD, and Yitzchak Meyer Davidsohn of Los Angeles, CA, who received their 5-Star General distinctions as part of the program.
Rabbi Abraham Shemtov, Chairman of the Executive of Agudas Chassidei Chabad and National Director of American Friends of Lubavitch (Chabad), delivered the main Chanukah Message.
After hearing from Emhoff, the menorah was lit with the participation of Rabbi Abraham Shemtov, Rabbi Levi Shemtov, Jewish communal leader and Hudson Bay Capital CEO Sander Gerber and National Menorah Council Managing Director Rabbi Menachem Shemtov.
Thousands of latkes and donuts were served to all in attendance.
According to initial media readouts, this event was seen by over 100 million viewers on more than 2,500 TV broadcasts. Internet tracking software reported over 1.3 billion hits regarding the National Menorah, including major outlets (and affiliates of) Associated Press, AFP, UPI, NBC (White House Pool), CBS, ABC, FOX, CNN, PBS NewsHour, NEWSMAX, Gray, ANI, and Nexstar.
The National Menorah also appeared in many print newspapers and their sites, including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal Washington Post, Washington Times, TIME, USA Today and a host of other publications.
VIDEO: Full replay
thank you Rabbi Shemtov