by Yehudah Obermeyer
The 35th Annual South Florida Chassidic Chanukah Festival is getting bigger and better. Considering that over 10,000 people have participated each year since the event was moved to Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach back in 2007, the staff and volunteers preparing the upcoming Festival set for Monday, December 22nd, 7PM, have coordinated a star studded program that will guarantee the biggest attendance ever.
The crowd will be even bigger than last year, as tens of thousands of tourists, in love with Jewish Music, are expected that week in South Florida.
Avraham Fried will be the featured entertainment, as he will be performing live, in a full length Concert.
Fried began his career with the release of his first album “No Jew Will Be Left Behind” in 1981, featuring the song “Kel Hahodaos”, written by Kol Salonica.
In the summer of 2009, Fried made a concert tour in Israel where he introduced Israeli singer and composer Chanan Yovel and featured the songs Rak T’filla and U’Nesane Tokef. His first DVD was released in December 2009.
His music is mostly categorized as pop Jewish music, similar to Mordechai ben David and tends to integrate many styles of popular music, including pop, rock and jazz, with Jewish lyrics and themes.
The Festival takes place in Hallandale Beach, at Gulfstream Park, US1 and Hallandale Beach Blvd.The event is annually produced and directed by Chabad of South Broward, leaders in Jewish Education, social services and community outreach.
The last few years, the Chanukah Festival was seen live around the world via Jewish TV @ Chabad.org. It was the most watched Live Jewish TV Show. People from across the globe, from the Ukraine to Israel, from South America to Australia, were fixed to their screens for the three hour Chanukah production that warmed so many hearts and inspired so many souls. The Chanukah Festival this year will be carried live once again by Chabad.org.
The Festival will honor the Friendship Circle, a program with some 100 branches worldwide, that caters to children with special needs, who are teamed up with local teenagers. These teenagers serve as volunteers and friends of these children with special needs.
Other Festival highlights include the lighting of Florida’s Largest Menorah, led by Cantor Rabbi Yossy Lebovics and a large lineup of Community Leaders and Dignitaries, free Chanukah gelt and goodies for the thousands of children in attendance, a delicious dinner (for a nominal fee), and scores of valuable prizes.
Rabbi Levi Tennenhaus, the events’ coordinator and Chabads’ Program Director, encourages those who can afford to get reserved seating: “The event, as always, is free. However, in addition to our major sponsors, individuals are entitled to reserve VIP seats for $100 per seat. This will help both the Festival, which runs at an enormous cost as a service to the community, and individuals who want the luxury and convenience to sit up front with their seats reserved exclusively for them and their families.”
Chanukah marks the birthday of Chabad of South Broward. The first Chabad Center in Broward County, Chabad of South Broward now runs from their Headquarters in Hallandale Beach over forty-five programs and agencies,, including Project PRIDE, a non-sectarian drug prevention and education program, The Friendship Circle, an incredible interactive program for children and teenagers with special needs, the Chaya Aydel Seminary, Florida’s only Teachers Seminary for Women, the fast expanding CHAI TOTS Preschool and Hebrew School, Bar and Bat Mitzvah Clubs, CTEEN Club, 3 Mikvahs accessible to the physically challenged, Camp Gan Israel, Kollel for Businessmen and Professionals, and 15 Synagogues. Chabad of South Broward is headed by Rabbi Raphael and Goldie Tennenhaus, who came to Broward County, as the first Shluchim (emissaries) of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M Schneerson (1902-1994) in December 1980.
The first program conducted by Chabad of South Broward was the Chanukah Festival in Young Circle, in Downtown Hollywood, in 1980. That Festival was attended by 2,000 people, practically all senior citizens. Today, many thousands of children are in attendance, from all walks of life, from all levels of observance,and from many countries around the world, both near and far. Many tourists base their vacation schedule around this historic and “one of a kind” Chanukah Festival.
For more info, visit Chanukahfestival.com.
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