The Rabbinical Centre of Europe (RCE) has distributed a record 100,000 Menorah’s to Jews across the European diaspora this November ahead of the Hanukkah holiday.
Menorah’s come in a custom package designed by the RCE and emblazoned with “Happy Chanukah” wishes. The package also contains dreidels and leaflets describing the laws and customs of the holiday in multiple languages – English, French, German, Russian and Hebrew.
Packaging 100,000 individual Menorah’s and shipping them across an entire continent proved to be a logistical challenge, as Rabbi Yosef Beinhacker, Vice President of the RCE, closely and personally monitored their packaging at the huge logistics center in Belgium.
”Just as we have been dealing with the Jewish needs of European Jews throughout the year, so now, as Chanukah approaches, we have provided one hundred thousand menorahs that will illuminate the darkness in Europe,” Rabbi Arie Goldberg, RCE’s Director-General, said.
Upon arrival, the menorahs were distributed by “shluchim” – or Chabad workers sent overseas to enable the practice of Judaism abroad – and rabbis of the RCE and European Jewish Association (EJA), who frequently collaborate on matters pertaining to European Jewry.
"Despite the many difficulties involved in this preparation, we did our best to ensure that as many Jews as possible, in the most remote places, would be able to observe the important mitzvah of lighting Hanukkah candles," concluded EJA Chairman Rabbi Menachem Margolin.