‘A time of miracles’: Las Vegas’ Jewish community celebrates Hanukkah

For the first time in nearly 20 years, the first day of Hanukkah fell on Christmas this year. In years past, a Grand Menorah on Fremont Street was lit to mark the first night of the Festival of Lights.

This celebration in the heart of downtown is scheduled to take place Thursday at 4 p.m. instead. But on Wednesday evening, hundreds gathered at Or Bamidbar Chabad Sephardic Synagogue on Emerson Avenue to dance, paint chocolate on a large menorah and witness the lighting of the first candle.

“It’s celebrating freedom,” said Ester Yosef, who attends the synagogue and volunteers her help. On Wednesday evening, she helped children paint the melted chocolate onto the menorah.

“It’s just nice that we’re able to get together and not have to worry about anything, and we’re safe,” Yosef said. A Metropolitan Police Department officer stood nearby.

Bright blue lights illuminated the menorah as music blared, both courtesy of DJ Shai Peri.

Peri, who moved to Las Vegas over 25 years ago from Israel, said that it’s great to see the Jewish community growing. He remembered only two synagogues in the city when he first arrived. Today, Peri said there are more than 20.

Michael and Sarah Naphan attended Wednesday’s celebration after traveling from Los Angeles with their son. Michael Naphan had visited the synagogue on Tuesday morning to pray and learned about Wednesday’s menorah lighting.

“It’s a time of miracles, and hopefully a miracle will happen for all of us,” Michael Naphan said.

The miracle of Hanukkah, Rabbi Yossi Shuchat said, was that one jar of oil lasted for eight days rather than one. “The first day is very special because we light only one candle,” Shuchat said, explaining that the point of Hanukkah is to bring light to the world.

“We want to show how light dispels darkness,” Shuchat said. Before the menorah was lit, Shuchat, joined by Israeli paralympic athlete Asaf Yasur, gave a prayer for Israeli hostages, soldiers and the world. “We shouldn’t be scared of the darkness,” he said.

Shuchat was not the only one spreading holiday cheer on Wednesday. In the morning, Catholic Charities of Southern Nevada continued its longstanding tradition of providing meals to those in need.

The nonprofit has served Christmas meals to homeless and vulnerable members of the community since 1965, according to director of media and community relations Leslie Carmine.

The 10 a.m. meal was open to anyone, regardless of their religion, Carmine said.

“We’re really excited that we get to share a little bit of Christmas cheer with individuals who may not have anywhere else to go or even have family or friends in town,” she said. “We’re appreciative of the community that supports us in a way that allows us to support our vulnerable people in our city.”

The 50 volunteers served 700 meals of Chef Jun Lao’s beef Wellington, horseradish mashed potatoes, a vegetable blend, a pumpkin swirl cake and hot chocolate.

Contact Estelle Atkinson at eatkinson@reviewjournal.com. Follow @estelleatkinson.bsky.social on Bluesky and @estellelilym on X. Staff reporter Katie Futterman contributed to the reporting.