Roving Rabbis back in Amarillo Tuesday to light giant Hanukkah Menorah

From Staff Reports
·2 min read
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The Roving Rabbis will be back in Amarillo today, Tuesday, Dec. 12, to light a giant menorah during the Hanukkah Festival of Lights.

According to a news release, the group will be lighting a 9-foot-tall Hanukkah Menorah at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Westgate Mall's center court. Tuesday is the sixth night of the eight-day Festival of Lights, the release notes, and the Amarillo event will feature live music, donuts and drinks. Complimentary Hanukkah menorahs and candles will be distributed for participants to light at home.

The group lit a similar piece in December 2022 during their visit to the city.

“The excitement about Hanukkah is truly amazing,” the release states. “People are preparing to celebrate with family and friends, filling their homes with the light of Hanukkah, it’s really beautiful to see.”

The six "Roving Rabbis" came to Westgate Mall in December 2022 to light a menorah and celebrate Hanukkah with the people of Amarillo.
The six "Roving Rabbis" came to Westgate Mall in December 2022 to light a menorah and celebrate Hanukkah with the people of Amarillo.

"The message of Hanukkah is all about spreading light regardless of religion or affiliation," the release continues. "Hanukkah is a universal holiday with a beautiful message for all 'spread light wherever you can.'"

According to the release, the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson launched the Hanukkah awareness campaign in 1973, and the Roving Rabbis’s public Hanukkah activities are a part of this global initiative. While traveling through two states, five cities and "countless Jewish homes," the group of seven Rabbinical students are spreading the message of hope and life through these menorah lightings and encounters. This year's stops include Waco, Tyler and Amarillo in Texas, as well as Durango, Colorado and more.

Organizers said the “Roving Rabbis” will be lighting a giant 9-foot Hanukkah Menorah at the Westgate Mall in Amarillo at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 12, the sixth night of the eight-day Festival of Lights.
Organizers said the “Roving Rabbis” will be lighting a giant 9-foot Hanukkah Menorah at the Westgate Mall in Amarillo at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 12, the sixth night of the eight-day Festival of Lights.

"Chabad-Lubavitch's annual Hanukkah campaign has distributed millions of menorahs to Jews around the world, and erected thousands of public menorahs to share its universal message of light over darkness with humanity at large. This year’s Hanukkah campaign will be one of unprecedented light and joy, seeing Chabad reach 8 million Jews in more than 100 countries."

This year, Amarillo "will take part as an energetic crowd gathers on the street to bring to one and all the universal message of Hanukkah – that even in a world with so much pain, mourning, death and destruction we can each be an ambassadors of goodness and kindness, since just a little light can chase away a lot of darkness," the release says.

This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Roving Rabbis to light Hanukkah Menorah at Amarillo mall Dec. 12