Lighting the menorah at Mount Rushmore is a way for the South Dakota Jewish community to celebrate religious freedoms that come with living the United States.

“It’s really an expression of Jewish pride, that we’re able to celebrate and worship freely and openly in the public, and it’s a beautiful place to do it right here at Mount Rushmore,” Rabbi Mendel Alperowitz adds.

Chabad of Montclair hosted a Hanukkah Fest and Grand Menorah Lighting at the Wellmont Arts Plaza Monday night, bringing the community together to celebrate the holiday.

A crowd gathers at a Menorah Lighting to eat doughnuts and drink hot cocoa to celebrate the first night of Chanukah on Sunday, Nov. 28 in Phoenix.

The Chabad Center for Jewish Life hosted a public ceremony Sunday, the first night of Hanukkah, to light a 9-foot tall menorah in front of the Lawrence Public Library.  The annual event was followed by a communitywide celebration that included fire performers and holiday refreshments.

AMHERST N.Y. (WIVB) —  The Chabad House of Buffalo kicked off the first of eight nights of Hanukkah with their traditional lighting of the giant community menorah, that’s located at the Tops Plaza on maple road. “Being able to have everyone come up to me and everyone being comfortable with it I think it’s very nice,” said Jordan Stern who attended the menorah lighting.

SPOKANE, Wash. — Chabad of Spokane is a safe and welcome place for anyone.

They want to take that message into the community to outsmart anti-Semitism and create a more equitable and just society for everyone.

“Anti-Semitism is rising. It’s rising, unfortunately, within this community and it’s rising globally,” Rabbi Yisroel Hahn said. “It’s reached a height that we haven’t seen in a long time.”

The move signifies a permanent location for the Chabad Jewish Center of Troy after it operated out of multiple locations for the past two years.

For the beginning years of Chabad Coastal Bend they’ve always had to borrow a Torah. Sunday they celebrated their own Torah, welcoming the holy scripture to it’s new home.

Rabbi Mendy Greenberg and his wife, Mussie, have been running Chabad programming from their home since 2017, when the couple moved to Twinsburg to establish a Chabad presence there. After receiving conditional use and building permits from the city of Twinsburg, construction is starting this week on the interior of the building, which has been an empty shell.

Chabad of North Phoenix Rabbi Mendy Levertov and his wife, Leah, are looking forward to making their Chabad center better suited to their needs. They’re considering expanding the sanctuary, upgrading the kitchen and, maybe, adding sensory and art rooms for the kids and adults who are part of Friendship Circle, which supports people with special needs.