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World's Largest Menorah
The World's Largest Menorah is a public Hanukkah menorah located at Grand Army Plaza near Central Park in Manhattan, New York City. Standing 32 feet (9.75 meters) tall and weighing approximately 4,000 pounds (1,814 kilograms), it has been a prominent fixture in New York City's annual Hanukkah celebrations since its first lighting in 1977. History The public lighting of Hanukkah menorahs began in the 1970s, encouraged by the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, who advocated for public displays of Jewish observance. In 1977, the Lubavitch Youth Organization erected the first public menorah in New York City at Grand Army Plaza, near Central Park. The inaugural lighting was attended by Senator Jacob K. Javits and Rabbi Shmuel Butman, director of the Lubavitch Youth Organization, who were lifted by a Con Edison cherry picker to light the menorah. Thousands attended the event, marking New York City's first public Hanukkah menorah lighting. In the mid-1980s, Atara C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grand Army Plaza (Manhattan)
Grand Army Plaza (formerly Fifth Avenue Plaza and Central Park Plaza) is a public square at the southeast corner of Central Park in Manhattan, New York City, near the intersection of Fifth Avenue and Central Park South (59th Street). It consists of two rectangular plots on the west side of Fifth Avenue between 58th and 60th streets. The current design of Grand Army Plaza dates to a 1916 reconstruction by the architectural firm of Carrère and Hastings. The plaza is designated as a New York City scenic landmark. The plaza is bisected by 59th Street (Manhattan), Central Park South (59th Street). The centerpiece of the plaza's northern half, carved out of the southeastern corner of Central Park, is the William Tecumseh Sherman (Saint-Gaudens), equestrian statue of William Tecumseh Sherman, sculpted by Augustus Saint-Gaudens. The principal feature of the plaza's southern half is the Pulitzer Fountain, topped with a bronze statue of the Roman goddess Pomona (mythology), Pomona sculp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coronavirus
Coronaviruses are a group of related RNA viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans and birds, they cause respiratory tract infections that can range from mild to lethal. Mild illnesses in humans include some cases of the common cold (which is also caused by other viruses, predominantly rhinoviruses), while more lethal varieties can cause SARS, MERS and COVID-19. In cows and pigs they cause diarrhea, while in mice they cause hepatitis and encephalomyelitis. Coronaviruses constitute the subfamily ''Orthocoronavirinae'', in the family ''Coronaviridae'', order ''Nidovirales'' and realm ''Riboviria''. They are enveloped viruses with a Positive-strand RNA virus, positive-sense single-stranded RNA genome and a nucleocapsid of helical symmetry. The genome size of coronaviruses ranges from approximately 26 to 32 kilobases, one of the largest among RNA viruses. They have characteristic club-shaped Spike protein, spikes that project from their surface, which in electron ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hanukkah
Hanukkah (, ; ''Ḥănukkā'' ) is a Jewish holidays, Jewish festival commemorating the recovery of Jerusalem and subsequent rededication of the Second Temple at the beginning of the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire in the 2nd century BCE. Hanukkah is observed for eight nights and days, starting on the 25th day of Kislev according to the Hebrew calendar, which may occur at any time from November 28 to December 27 in the Gregorian calendar. The festival is observed by lighting the candles of a candelabra, candelabrum with nine Branch, branches, commonly called a Hanukkah menorah, menorah or hanukkiah. One branch is placed above or below the others and its candle is used to light the other eight candles. This unique candle is called the ''gabbai, shammash'' (, "attendant"). Each night, one additional candle is lit by the ''shammash'' until all eight candles are lit together on the final night of the festival. Other Hanukkah festivities include singing Hanukkah musi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Menorah
The National Menorah is a large Hanukkah menorah located in the northeast quadrant of The Ellipse near the White House in Washington, D.C. It was first lit in 1979 by President Jimmy Carter, and has been erected and lit every year since. The Menorah has grown in size as well, and is now high. History In 1973 Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson called for the public awareness of the festival of Hanukkah and encouraged the lighting of public menorahs. Although initially criticized by liberal Jewish organizations, Schneerson defended the campaign. In 1979, Abraham Shemtov of Chabad sought to erect a menorah on the White House lawn. Cecil D. Andrus, the Secretary of the Interior, initially denied Shemtov a permit to put a menorah on government property, saying it would violate the First Amendment. Stuart E. Eizenstat eventually settled the matter and a permit was granted. That year, President Jimmy Carter lit the menorah and delivered brief remarks. Every president since has recog ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crown Heights, Brooklyn
Crown Heights is a neighborhood in the central portion of the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn. Crown Heights is bounded by Washington Avenue to the west, Atlantic Avenue (New York City), Atlantic Avenue to the north, Ralph Avenue to the east, and Empire Boulevard to the south. It is about wide and long. Neighborhoods bordering Crown Heights include Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, Prospect Heights to the west, Flatbush, Brooklyn, Flatbush, Prospect Lefferts Gardens, Brooklyn, Prospect Lefferts Gardens and East Flatbush, Brooklyn, East Flatbush to the south, Brownsville, Brooklyn, Brownsville to the east, and Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, Bedford–Stuyvesant to the north. The main thoroughfare through this neighborhood is Eastern Parkway, a tree-lined boulevard designed by Frederick Law Olmsted in the late-1800s, extending east–west. Earlier, the area was sometimes known as Crow Hill, with a succession of ridges running east and west from Utica Aven ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Abrams
Robert Abrams (born July 4, 1938) is an American attorney and politician. He served as the Attorney General of New York, attorney general of New York from 1979 to 1993 and was the Democratic nominee for the 1992 United States Senate election in New York. Early life and education Abrams was born in The Bronx, New York, in a Jewish family, the son of Benjamin and Dorothy Abrams. He has one sister, Marlene (Abrams) Kitrosser. He graduated from Columbia College of Columbia University, Columbia College and the New York University School of Law. Career New York State Assembly Abrams launched his political career as a 27-year-old insurgent challenging his local assemblyman and the Bronx Democratic machine in a Democratic primary in September 1965. Abrams was a member of the New York State Assembly from 1966 to 1969, sitting in the 176th New York State Legislature, 176th, 177th New York State Legislature, 177th and 178th New York State Legislatures. Bronx Borough President From ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sheldon Silver
Sheldon Silver (February 13, 1944 – January 24, 2022) was an American Democratic Party politician, attorney, and convicted felon from New York City who served as Speaker of the New York State Assembly from 1994 to 2015. A native of Manhattan's Lower East Side, Silver served in the New York State Assembly from 1977 to 2015. In 1994, he was elected as Speaker; he held that position for two decades. During this period, Silver was known as one of the most powerful politicians in the state. Silver was arrested on federal corruption charges in early 2015, and resigned as Speaker of the Assembly shortly afterward. At his trial that November, he was convicted of all charges; the felony convictions triggered his automatic expulsion from the Assembly. Silver's conviction was overturned on appeal, but in May 2018, following a retrial, he was found guilty on the same charges. After another appeal, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed the guilty verdicts for three of the charges b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chuck Schumer
Charles Ellis Schumer ( ; born November 23, 1950) is an American politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from New York (state), New York, a seat he has held since 1999. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he has led the Senate Democratic Caucus since 2017 and served as Senate Majority Leader, Senate majority leader from 2021 to 2025. He has served two stints as Senate minority leader, from 2017 to 2021 and since 2025. He became New York's Seniority in the United States Senate, senior senator in 2001, upon Daniel Patrick Moynihan's retirement. Elected to a fifth term in 2022, Schumer surpassed Moynihan and Jacob K. Javits as the longest-serving List of United States senators from New York, U.S. senator from New York. He is the dean of United States congressional delegations from New York, New York's congressional delegation. A native of Brooklyn and a graduate of Harvard Co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kathy Hochul
Kathleen Hochul ( ; ; born August 27, 1958) is an American politician and lawyer who has served since 2021 as the 57th governor of New York. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, she is New York's List of female governors in the United States, first female governor. Born in Buffalo, New York, Hochul graduated from Syracuse University in 1980 and received a Juris Doctor from the The Catholic University of America, Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law in Washington, D.C. in 1984. After serving on the Hamburg, New York, Hamburg town (New York), Town Board and as deputy Erie County, New York, Erie County clerk, Hochul was appointed Erie County clerk in 2007. She was elected to a full term as Erie County clerk in 2007 and reelected in 2010. In May 2011, Hochul won a four-candidate 2011 New York's 26th congressional district special election, special election for New York's 26th congressional district, becoming the first Democratic Part ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eric Adams
Eric Leroy Adams (born September 1, 1960) is an American politician and former police officer who has served as the 110th mayor of New York City since 2022. Adams was an officer in the New York City Transit Police and then the New York City Police Department (NYPD) for more than 20 years, retiring at the rank of Police captain, captain. He served in the New York State Senate from 2006 to 2013, representing the New York's 20th State Senate district, 20th district in Brooklyn. In 2013 New York City borough president elections#Brooklyn, 2013, Adams became the first Black American to be elected Brooklyn Borough President; he was 2017 New York City borough president elections#Brooklyn, re-elected in 2017. In 2021, Adams received the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party's nomination for mayor of New York City after winning 2021 New York City Democratic mayoral primary, a crowded primary that used instant-runoff voting, instant runoff voting. In the 2021 New York City ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael Bloomberg
Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American businessman and politician. He is the majority owner and co-founder of Bloomberg L.P., and was its CEO from 1981 to 2001 and again from 2014 to 2023. He served as the 108th mayor of New York City for three terms, from 2002 to 2013, and was a candidate for the 2020 Democratic presidential primaries, 2020 Democratic nomination for president of the United States. Bloomberg grew up in Medford, Massachusetts, and graduated from Johns Hopkins University, Johns Hopkins University, in Baltimore, Maryland, and Harvard Business School in Boston, Massachusetts. He began his career at the securities brokerage firm Salomon Brothers before forming his own company in 1981. That company, Bloomberg L.P., is a financial information, software and media firm that is known for its Bloomberg Terminal. Bloomberg spent the next twenty years as its chairman and CEO. According to ''Forbes'', as of May 2025, Bloomberg's estimated net worth ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Halakha
''Halakha'' ( ; , ), also Romanization of Hebrew, transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Judaism, Jewish religious laws that are derived from the Torah, Written and Oral Torah. ''Halakha'' is based on biblical commandments (''Mitzvah, mitzvot''), subsequent Talmudic and Mitzvah#Rabbinic mitzvot, rabbinic laws, and the customs and traditions which were compiled in the many books such as the ''Shulchan Aruch'' or ''Mishneh Torah''. ''Halakha'' is often translated as "Jewish law", although a more literal translation might be "the way to behave" or "the way of walking". The word is derived from the Semitic root, root, which means "to behave" (also "to go" or "to walk"). ''Halakha'' not only guides religious practices and beliefs; it also guides numerous aspects of day-to-day life. Historically, widespread observance of the laws of the Torah is first in evidence beginning in the second century BCE, and some say that the first evide ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
