The Hawaii Tiki-Torch Menorah Lighting ceremony was Sunday evening at the St. Regis Princeville Resort overlooking Hanalei Bay. The eight-day festival of Chanukah ended at sunset, and the last of the eight-candle candelabra was kindled on Saturday night. Sunday’s celebration,
The Hawaii Tiki-Torch Menorah Lighting ceremony was Sunday evening at the St. Regis Princeville Resort overlooking Hanalei Bay.
The eight-day festival of Chanukah ended at sunset, and the last of the eight-candle candelabra was kindled on Saturday night. Sunday’s celebration, said Rabbi Michoel Goldman of Gani (Chabad) Kauai, was not about adding a ninth night, but symbolic of the eight Chanukah flames burning into the post-Chanukah times.
The menorah is lit at nightfall for a reason.
“Since one of the main themes of Chanukah is combating darkness with light, we must perpetuate that message way beyond the 8-day festival,” Goldman said. “This is a message we need year-round.”
He said lighting the menorah in the closing moments of Chanukah on the planet — “since we are the western-most Jewish community in the world and one longitude before the date line — carries huge significance in terms of capturing the final moment of opportunity and firing it up to its fullest potential.
