Members of the Torah Tots Preschool choir, from left, Mendel Harlig, 3, Rivka Harlig, 4, Mussie Harlig, 4, and Esther Harlig, 2, sing at the lighting of the Grand Menorah at Fremont Street Experience in downtown Las Vegas on the first day of Hanukkah Thursday, Dec. 10, 2020. Holding the microphone is Rabbi Levi Harlig. Hosted by Chabad of Southern Nevada, the ceremony marked the first day of Hanukkah. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @KMCannonPhoto
Members of the Dancing Dreidels, from left, Mendy Piekarski of Miami, Lev Voskoboynik of Las Vegas, Shmulie Cunin of Las Vegas, and Shaul Rimler of Phoenix dance during the Grand Menorah lighting ceremony at Fremont Street Experience in downtown Las Vegas on the first day of Hanukkah Thursday, Dec. 10, 2020. Hosted by Chabad of Southern Nevada, the ceremony marked the first day of Hanukkah. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @KMCannonPhoto
Members of the Dancing Dreidels, including Shaul Rimler of Phoenix, left, and Mendy Piekarski of Miami dance during the Grand Menorah lighting ceremony at Fremont Street Experience in downtown Las Vegas on the first day of Hanukkah Thursday, Dec. 10, 2020. Hosted by Chabad of Southern Nevada, the ceremony marked the first day of Hanukkah. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @KMCannonPhoto
Rabbi Shea Harlig places the shamash candle, which is used to light the other candles, on the Grand Menorah during a lighting ceremony at Fremont Street Experience in downtown Las Vegas on the first day of Hanukkah Thursday, Dec. 10, 2020. Reading the prayer at right is Joshua Pianko, chairman of Jewish Nevada. Hosted by Chabad of Southern Nevada, the ceremony marked the first day of Hanukkah. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @KMCannonPhoto
Rabbi Shea Harlig and Joshua Pianko, chairman of Jewish Nevada, light the first candle on the Grand Menorah during a lighting ceremony at Fremont Street Experience in downtown Las Vegas on the first day of Hanukkah Thursday, Dec. 10, 2020. Hosted by Chabad of Southern Nevada, the ceremony marked the first day of Hanukkah. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @KMCannonPhoto
Members of the Dancing Dreidels, from left, Mendy Piekarski of Miami, left, Shmulie Cunin of Las Vegas, Shaul Rimler of Phoenix and Lev Voskoboynik of Las Vegas dance during the Grand Menorah lighting ceremony at Fremont Street Experience in downtown Las Vegas on the first day of Hanukkah Thursday, Dec. 10, 2020. Hosted by Chabad of Southern Nevada, the ceremony marked the first day of Hanukkah. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @KMCannonPhoto
Members of the Torah Tots Preschool choir, from left, Mendel Harlig, 3, Rivka Harlig, 4, Mussie Harlig, 4, and Esther Harlig, 2, sing at the lighting of the Grand Menorah at Fremont Street Experience in downtown Las Vegas on the first day of Hanukkah Thursday, Dec. 10, 2020. Hosted by Chabad of Southern Nevada, the ceremony marked the first day of Hanukkah. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @KMCannonPhoto
Members of the Dancing Dreidels, from left, Lev Voskoboynik of Las Vegas, Shmulie Cunin of Las Vegas and Mendy Piekarski of Miami, left, dance during the Grand Menorah lighting ceremony at Fremont Street Experience in downtown Las Vegas on the first day of Hanukkah Thursday, Dec. 10, 2020. Hosted by Chabad of Southern Nevada, the ceremony marked the first day of Hanukkah. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @KMCannonPhoto
Members of the Dancing Dreidels, from left, Shmulie Cunin of Las Vegas Mendy Piekarski of Miami, and Lev Voskoboynik of Las Vegas dance during the Grand Menorah lighting ceremony at Fremont Street Experience in downtown Las Vegas on the first day of Hanukkah Thursday, Dec. 10, 2020. Hosted by Chabad of Southern Nevada, the ceremony marked the first day of Hanukkah. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @KMCannonPhoto
Members of the Dancing Dreidels, Mendy Piekarski of Miami, Shaul Rimler of Phoenix and Lev Voskoboynik of Las Vegas dance during the Grand Menorah lighting ceremony at Fremont Street Experience in downtown Las Vegas on the first day of Hanukkah Thursday, Dec. 10, 2020. Hosted by Chabad of Southern Nevada, the ceremony marked the first day of Hanukkah. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @KMCannonPhoto
Members of the Torah Tots Preschool choir, from left, Mussie Harlig, 4, Esther Harlig, 2, Rivka Harlig, 4, and Mendel Harlig, 3, dance at the lighting of the Grand Menorah at Fremont Street Experience in downtown Las Vegas on the first day of Hanukkah Thursday, Dec. 10, 2020. Hosted by Chabad of Southern Nevada, the ceremony marked the first day of Hanukkah. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @KMCannonPhoto
Members of the Dancing Dreidels, from left, Shaul Rimler of Phoenix, Shmulie Cunin of Las Vegas and Lev Voskoboynik of Las Vegas dance during the Grand Menorah lighting ceremony at Fremont Street Experience in downtown Las Vegas on the first day of Hanukkah Thursday, Dec. 10, 2020. Hosted by Chabad of Southern Nevada, the ceremony marked the first day of Hanukkah. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @KMCannonPhoto
Members of the Dancing Dreidels, from left, Shaul Rimler of Phoenix, Lev Voskoboynik of Las Vegas and Shmulie Cunin of Las Vegas dance during the Grand Menorah lighting ceremony at Fremont Street Experience in downtown Las Vegas on the first day of Hanukkah Thursday, Dec. 10, 2020. Hosted by Chabad of Southern Nevada, the ceremony marked the first day of Hanukkah. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @KMCannonPhoto
Members of the Dancing Dreidels, from left, Mendy Piekarski of Miami, left, Shmulie Cunin of Las Vegas, Shaul Rimler of Phoenix and Lev Voskoboynik of Las Vegas dance during the Grand Menorah lighting ceremony at Fremont Street Experience in downtown Las Vegas on the first day of Hanukkah Thursday, Dec. 10, 2020. Hosted by Chabad of Southern Nevada, the ceremony marked the first day of Hanukkah. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @KMCannonPhoto
Members of the Dancing Dreidels, Mendy Piekarski of Miami, left, and Shaul Rimler of Phoenix dance during the Grand Menorah lighting ceremony at Fremont Street Experience in downtown Las Vegas on the first day of Hanukkah Thursday, Dec. 10, 2020. Hosted by Chabad of Southern Nevada, the ceremony marked the first day of Hanukkah. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @KMCannonPhoto
As neon lights shined down on a small crowd, the spirit of Hanukkah carried through Fremont Street Experience with traditional singing, dancing, prayer and the lighting of the first candle on a 20-foot menorah Thursday night.
Rabbi Shea Harlig of Chabad of Southern Nevada, lit the first candle on the Grand Menorah high above the people gathered below for the ceremony.
“By lighting the menorah, we want to show that even a little light dispels darkness,” he said Thursday.
While traditional Hanukkah songs blasted from speakers, people dressed in blue dreidel costumes pranced through the crowd.
“It’s our job to bring light to the world and stand up and say ‘Hey it’s going to be OK,’” Adam Kilbourn, a ceremony attendee, said. “This menorah is a physical representation of that idea.”
Normally, the ceremony includes a choir performance but because of COVID-19 regulations, a new act was added. Dressed in purple, Harlig’s grandkids danced to a traditional Hanukkah song, “I Have a Little Dreidel,” giving rise to a cheering crowd.
Hanukkah, also known as the Jewish Festival of Lights, honors the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem during the second century B.C. following victory over an occupying army, according to The Associated Press.
The eight-day festival also commemorates the story of the miracle of light during the rededication of the Second Temple, when a menorah with only enough oil to keep burning for a day lasted for eight days. The story of the miracle of light became a foundation for this tradition.
“Hanukkah is about the victory of light over darkness, good over evil,” Rabbi Levi Harlig, program director at Chabad of Southern Nevada, said.
The 25-year-old menorah will be on display on Fremont Street throughout the eight-day Hanukkah season from Dec. 1o to Dec. 18.
