The menorah was lit Wednesday evening in Vancouver’s Esther Short Park, with celebrations led by Rabbi Shmulik Greenberg of Jewish Chabad Center.
Flamebuoyant Productions performed fire dances before the ceremony, and afterward the crowd was invited into the Hilton Vancouver Washington, across the street from the park, to build a model menorah from 1,400 cans of food. The food was donated by Safeway, and was to be delivered Thursday morning to the Clark County Food Bank.
Other activities in the hotel included live orchestra music, crafts and a “Kosher Deli Market.”
Thursday was the first full day of Hanukkah.
It’s extremely rare for Thanksgiving and Hanukkah to be on the same day. Next time the two are expected to overlap: the year 79,043.
