World's Largest Menorah To Be Lit Near Central Park For Hanukkah

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Seasonal & Holidays

World's Largest Menorah To Be Lit Near Central Park For Hanukkah

The lighting of the "world's largest menorah" will take place at the Grand Army Plaza near Central Park on Sunday. Here's what to know.

Gus Saltonstall, Patch Staff

Posted Fri, Nov 26, 2021 at 11:46 am ET|Updated Fri, Nov 26, 2021 at 11:53 am ET

CENTRAL PARK, NY — You can witness the lighting of the "world's largest" menorah near Central Park this weekend in honor of the first night of Hanukkah.

The lighting will take place Sunday on the Grand Army Plaza adjacent to Central Park at 5:30 p.m.

Central Park's Grand Army Plaza is located at Fifth Avenue between West 58th and 59th Streets, directly next to the southernmost section of the famous Manhattan park.

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Here's the complete schedule of lightings for the famous menorah during the following week:

• Sunday, November 28th: 5:30 PM
• Monday, November 29th: 5:30 PM
• Tuesday, November 30th: 5:30 PM
• Wednesday, December 1st: 5:30 PM
• Thursday, December 2nd: 5:30 PM
• Friday, December 3rd: 3:30 PM
• Saturday, December 4th: 8:00 PM
• Sunday, December 5th: 5:30 PM

The Grand Army Plaza menorah was first erected at the location in 1973 by Rabbi Shmuel Butman, where it still stands in 2021.

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The steel structure weighs 4,000 pounds.

It was designed by Israeli artist Yaacov Agam, and stands 32-feet-high, which is the largest size permitted by Halacha-Jewish law.

Eleven years after Butman built the menorah adjacent to Central Park, a competition ensued where Rabbi Shimon Hecht built his own version of the Menorah at the Grand Army Plaza in Park Slope, Brooklyn.

Hecht claimed that his menorah was actually the world's largest, and while the two are the same height — the central candle in Hecht's menorah is in fact six inches taller than Butman's Central Park menorah, according to Central Park's website.

Despite that, in 2006, The Guinness Book of World Records certified that the Central Park Fifth Avenue menorah was the largest in the world.

The lighting on Sunday is free and open to the public.

You can find out more about the "world's largest" menorah on Central Park's website.

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