
A public menorah is a large
menorah displayed publicly during the
Jewish holiday
Jewish holidays, also known as Jewish festivals or ''Yamim Tovim'' (, or singular , in transliterated Hebrew []), are holidays observed by Jews throughout the Hebrew calendar.This article focuses on practices of mainstream Rabbinic Judaism. ...
of
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 ce ...
. It is done to celebrate the holiday and publicize the
miracle of Hanukkah, and is typically accompanied by a public event during one of the nights of Hanukkah attended by invited dignitaries who are honored with lighting the menorah.
Public menorah lighting were initiated by Rabbi
Menachem M. Schneerson in 1974. The most prominent public menorah celebration takes place in
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
, and is known as the
National Menorah. In 2013 Chabad planned 15,000 public menorah lighting events across the globe.
History

There are two menorahs common throughout Jewish history. The Chanuka menorah usually has 9 sticks. 8 to commemorate each day of Chanuka, and a ninth one to light them. This tradition is from the period of the Maccabean revolt. The other menorah has 7 candles. It is from the most holy place in the temple and represents the spirit of God. The 7 candles are to be perpetually burning. This dates back to the Exodus from Egypt (Ex. 25:31-40) and was used in the Tabernacle in the Wilderness and the first Jewish temple. The concept of lighting a
menorah in a way that allows the public to see it dates back to ancient times, where menorahs were lit outside of people's homes in order to publicize the miracle of Hanukkah. The concept of lighting a large menorah in public was initiated by Rabbi
Menachem M. Schneerson (the Lubavitcher Rebbe) in 1973. He launched his Hanukkah-awareness campaign by encouraging his followers and emissaries to reach out to their fellow Jews and give them the opportunity to kindle the Hanukkah lights. That year they distributed some 60,000 tin menorahs. In 1974, Rabbi
Abraham Shemtov kindled a menorah at the foot of the Liberty Bell at Independence Hall. The following year, in 1975, rock promoter
Bill Graham sponsored
Chabad
Chabad, also known as Lubavitch, Habad and Chabad-Lubavitch (; ; ), is a dynasty in Hasidic Judaism. Belonging to the Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) branch of Orthodox Judaism, it is one of the world's best-known Hasidic movements, as well as one of ...
's menorah in San Francisco.
Since 1974, the concept of public menorahs expanded and in 1979, President
Jimmy Carter
James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...
participated in the lighting of a public menorah erected by Chabad. In 2014, then-Vice President
Joe Biden
Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...
kindled a public menorah in
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
In 2013, Chabad planned 15,000 public menorah lighting events across the globe. Some believe the Hanukkah-awareness campaign has been a prime factor in the festival becoming so widely celebrated. But the initiative has also faced opposition from within the Jewish community, both from Conservative and Reform Jewish organizations,
as well as from the
Orthodox Union
The Orthodox Union (abbreviated OU) is one of the largest Orthodox Jewish organizations in the United States. Founded in 1898, the OU supports a network of synagogues, youth programs, Jewish and Religious Zionist advocacy programs, programs f ...
and
Agudath Israel.
Notable public menorah lightings
United States

Since 1979, the
National Menorah has been lit on the
White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...
grounds in celebration of Hanukkah. President
Jimmy Carter
James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...
attended that first ceremony, and President
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...
designated it the National Menorah.
In 2009 the ceremony included then-White House
Chief of Staff
The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supportin ...
Rahm Emanuel
Rahm Israel Emanuel (; born November 29, 1959) is an American politician, advisor, diplomat, and former investment banker who most recently served as List of ambassadors of the United States to Japan, United States ambassador to Japan from 2022 ...
, followed by Chief of Staff
Jack Lew in 2010 and 2011.
In 2012, the first candle was lit with the help of
Jeffrey Zients
Jeffrey Dunston Zients (; born November 12, 1966) is an American business executive and former government official who served as the 31st White House chief of staff from February 2023 to January 2025 under U.S. president Joe Biden. Earlier in t ...
, director of the White House
Office of Management and Budget
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is the largest office within the Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP). The office's most prominent function is to produce the president's budget, while it also examines agency pro ...
.
The
world's largest menorah stands at and is lit at
Fifth Avenue
Fifth Avenue is a major thoroughfare in the borough (New York City), borough of Manhattan in New York City. The avenue runs south from 143rd Street (Manhattan), West 143rd Street in Harlem to Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village. The se ...
and 59th Street in
Manhattan
Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...
near
Central Park
Central Park is an urban park between the Upper West Side and Upper East Side neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City, and the first landscaped park in the United States. It is the List of parks in New York City, sixth-largest park in the ...
. A structure, it is the work of
Israeli artist
Yaacov Agam. Because of the menorah's height,
Con Edison
Consolidated Edison, Inc., commonly known as Con Edison (stylized as conEdison) or ConEd, is one of the largest investor-owned energy companies in the United States, with approximately $12 billion in annual revenues as of 2017, and over $62 ...
assists the lighting by using a
crane to lift each person to the top.
Canada
A large menorah is located at
Toronto City Hall
The Toronto City Hall, or New City Hall, is the seat of the municipal government of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and one of the city's most distinctive landmarks. Designed by Viljo Revell and engineered by Hannskarl Bandel, the building opened in ...
at the south east corner of
Nathan Phillips Square
Nathan Phillips Square is an city square, urban plaza in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It forms the forecourt to Toronto City Hall, or ''New City Hall'', at the intersection of Queen Street West and Bay Street, and is named after Nathan Phillips ( ...
during Hanukkah. as well as a smaller one at
Old City Hall.
United Kingdom
Each year, the
House of Commons of the United Kingdom
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 memb ...
holds a menorah lighting at the home of the Speaker of the House of Commons. The menorah currently used was commissioned by the Rt. Hon.
Michael J. Martin MP, former Speaker of the House of Commons.
Since 2007, Chabad has organized a public menorah celebration at Trafalgar Square. Each year the event is sponsored by Chabad, the
Jewish Leadership Council, the
London Jewish Forum
Established in 2006, The London Jewish Forum (LJF) is dedicated to the promotion of Jewish life in London. The Forum provides a platform for engagement between London Jewry and the Greater London Authority, Mayor of London, London Boroughs and MP ...
and the mayor of London.
Israel

Public menorahs are prominently displayed throughout Israel, notably in the
Ben Gurion airport
Ben Gurion International Airport , commonly known by the Hebrew language, Hebrew-language acronym (), is the main international airport of Israel. Situated on outskirts north of the city of Lod and directly south of the city of Or Yehuda, i ...
.
Cyprus
Each year the Cypriot capital of
Nicosia
Nicosia, also known as Lefkosia and Lefkoşa, is the capital and largest city of Cyprus. It is the southeasternmost of all EU member states' capital cities.
Nicosia has been continuously inhabited for over 5,500 years and has been the capi ...
has lit a National Menorah in its city center.
Ukraine
On December 23, 2019, was the first Hanukkah candle lighting in
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...
parliament since the election of Jewish President
Volodymyr Zelensky
Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy (born 25 January 1978) is a Ukrainian politician and former entertainer who has served as the sixth and current president of Ukraine since 2019. He took office five years after the start of the Russo-Ukraini ...
. Chief Rabbi of Kiev Rabbi
Jonathan Markovitch led the event. Among the 200 guests were Israeli Ambassador to Ukraine
Joel Lion; Israeli honorary consul
Oleg Vyshniakov; co-chairs of the group on inter-parliamentary relations with the State of Israel,
Oleksandr Kunytskyi and
Danylo Hetmantsev; and 80 members of parliament.
On 18 December 2022, 10 months into the
Russian invasion, and days after the most recent targeting of
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...
's gas infrastructure,
the
City of Kyiv lit what is claimed to be Europe's tallest Menora, (at 12-meters tall) in
Maidan Nezalezhnosti
Maidan Nezalezhnosti (, ) or Independence Square is the central town square of Kyiv, the capital city of Ukraine. One of the city's main squares, it is located on Khreshchatyk Street in the Shevchenko Raion. The square contains the iconic Ind ...
square.
Uruguay

Each year in the Plaza Trouville in the
Punta Carretas neighborhood of
Montevideo
Montevideo (, ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2023 census, the city proper has a population of 1,302,954 (about 37.2% of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...
a public menorah is held, and the lighting ceremony is attended by city and national authorities. The first time that a public menorah was installed in Uruguay was in 1985 in Villa Biarritz Park.
Intendant of Montevideo Jorge Luis Elizalde attended that first ceremony.
A public menorah is also displayed annually in
Punta del Este
Punta del Este () is a seaside city and peninsula on the Atlantic Coast in the Maldonado Department of southeastern Uruguay. Starting as a small town, Punta del Este grew to become a resort for the Latin and North American jet set and tourists. T ...
.
Controversy
The success of the public menorah campaign has not been without controversy. In 1988, the
American Jewish Congress
The American Jewish Congress (AJCongress) is an association of American Jews organized to defend Jewish interests in the US and internationally through public policy advocacy, using diplomacy, legislation, and the courts.
History
The idea for a ...
produced a 28-page report entitled "The Year of the Menorah", criticizing Chabad's public menorah campaign and the litigation that went with it. It complained of the increase in the number of menorahs placed on public lands, arguing that it was causing tension both within the community and with non-Jews. In 1989, the
ACLU
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is an American nonprofit civil rights organization founded in 1920. ACLU affiliates are active in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. The budget of the ACLU in 2024 was $383 million.
...
challenged the legality of a display of a Chabad-owned public menorah in
County of Allegheny. In a court case
County of Allegheny v. ACLU the
United States Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on question ...
ruled in favor of the menorah.
In 1989, the city of
Burlington, Vermont
Burlington, officially the City of Burlington, is the List of municipalities in Vermont, most populous city in the U.S. state of Vermont and the county seat, seat of Chittenden County, Vermont, Chittenden County. It is located south of the Can ...
denied the local Chabad chapter, headed by Rabbi Yitzchok Raskin permission to erect a menorah in the city's main park during Hanukkah. Raskin appealed the decision on two occasions after an initial hearing 1987 found the display to be unconstitutional under the
Establishment Clause of the First Amendment
In United States law, the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, together with that Amendment's Free Exercise Clause, form the constitutional right of freedom of religion. The ''Establishment Clause'' and ...
. The ACLU assisted the City of Burlington in a final appeal in the
United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (in case citations, 2d Cir.) is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals. Its territory covers the states of Connecticut, New York (state), New York, and Vermont, and it has ap ...
in 1991, and the menorah ban was upheld. There have been similar cases involving Chabad public menorahs with the courts ruling against Chabad, including
Chicago
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
(1990)
Iowa
Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...
(1986),
Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...
(1991), and
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States
Georgia may also refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Georgia (name), a list of pe ...
(1991). In addition, in 1991, in
White Plains, New York
White Plains is a city in and the county seat of Westchester County, New York, United States. It is an inner suburb of New York City, and a commercial hub of Westchester County, a densely populated suburban county that is home to about one milli ...
, the
Common Council unanimously rejected the display of a Chabad menorah in a public space in the town with the support of many Jews, affirming a local tradition of keeping parks free of religious and political displays.
On the other hand, in 2002, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed Rabbi Sholom B. Kalmanson of Chabad of
Southern Ohio
Appalachian Ohio is a bioregion and political unit in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Ohio, characterized by the western foothills of the Appalachian Mountains and the Appalachian Plateau. The Appalachian Regional Commission defines ...
to light an menorah in Cincinnati's
Fountain Square
A fountain square is a park or plaza in a city that features a fountain. It may stand alone or as part of a larger public park.
United States
In the United States, there are numerous fountain squares, many of which are actually called "fountain ...
. Justice
John Paul Stevens
John Paul Stevens (April 20, 1920 – July 16, 2019) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1975 to 2010. At the time of his retirement, he was the second-oldes ...
upheld a lower court ruling that the city could not ban the menorah and other religious displays from the square.
Due to the menorah being a Jewish symbol, menorahs in public have been subject to
anti-Semitic
Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...
violence. For instance, in 2009 in
Moldova
Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. ...
, a group of fundamentalist Orthodox Christians took down a public menorah and replaced it with a cross.
The same year, in
Vienna
Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
,
Austria
Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
, a Chabad rabbi was attacked by a
Muslim
Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
man while leading the candle lighting ceremony.
Controversy has also arisen at the Western Wall in Israel. For
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 ce ...
every year a giant menorah is erected in the men's section of the Western Wall and each night of the eight nights of the festival, male rabbis and male politicians are honored, while women are kept at a distance, where they are barely able to see the ceremony.
Women of the Wall
Women of the Wall (Hebrew: נשות הכותל, ''Neshot HaKotel'') is a multi-denominational Jewish feminist organization based in Israel whose goal is to secure the rights of women to pray at the Western Wall, also called the Kotel, in a fashi ...
sent a letter to Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu
Benjamin Netanyahu (born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who has served as the prime minister of Israel since 2022, having previously held the office from 1996 to 1999 and from 2009 to 2021. Netanyahu is the longest-serving prime min ...
requesting a large menorah also be erected in the women's section, but Netanyahu simply forwarded the letter to Western Wall rabbi
Shmuel Rabinowitz, who accused WoW of ulterior motives of trying to change the customs at the Wall. Responding to Rabinowitz' accusation,
Anat Hoffman
Anat Hoffman (; born April 2, 1954) is an Israeli activist and the former executive director of the Israel Religious Action Center, also known as IRAC. She is the director and founding member of Nashot HaKotel, also known as Women of the Wall. ...
noted: "In his letter, Rabbi Rabinowitz speaks of bringing together and uniting the nation, and yet his actions exclude and discriminate against women as if women are not part of the same nation. Since he was chosen for this public position, Rabinowitz has never invited Women of the Wall or any other women to participate in the ceremonies or to be honored with the lighting of a candle at the Kotel on Hanukkah, despite the fact that women are obligated equally to men in this religious act." In December 2014 the personal menorahs the women brought to the Kotel were confiscated, but they were returned when police were called.
["Judy Maltz 'Sarah Silverman joins Women activists at Western Wall Hanukkah ceremony: Kotel security confiscates prayer group's menorahs, returned only after complaint lodged with police.' (18 Dec 2014) Haaretz"http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/1.632612]
References
External links
Public Menorahs Around the GlobeThe World's Largest Menorah
{{DEFAULTSORT:Public Menorah
Hanukkah
Chabad outreach
Menachem Mendel Schneerson
Establishment Clause case law
Chabad-Lubavitch (Hasidic dynasty)
Chabad-Lubavitch related controversies
Menorah