Each year, the Elmakayes family would come to the Western Wall for the lighting of the first Hanukkah candle. This year, they lit it without their son, who was killed in Gaza, before hundreds of people. The candle for bereaved families was lit by Lucia Elmakayes, father of Master Sgt. (res.) Benjamin Eliahou Elmakayes, of the Binyamin region, who was killed in combat in the Gaza Strip on November 8, 2023 (24th of Cheshvan, 5784).
Benjamin was a lone soldier who immigrated to Israel to serve in the IDF. He worked as a security guard at the Western Wall and was called up under an emergency mobilization order on Simchat Torah, October 7, 2023. For years, his family had the custom of coming together to light the first Hanukkah candle at the Western Wall, a tradition they kept until last year. This year, his parents lit the candles without him.
After Benjamin’s death, his parents, Lucien and Marlene, decided to immigrate to Israel and make their home in Jerusalem. Marlene Elmakayes said, “Lighting the first Hanukkah candle at the Western Wall is very important to us. We had a ‘pact’ with Benjamin to light this candle together every year, no matter where he was. Since he worked in security at the Western Wall, in recent years we did it there.”
Moshe Saville, CEO of OneFamily, the national organization supporting bereaved families and the wounded, said: “At the foot of the Western Wall, during this moving candle lighting led by the Western Wall Heritage Foundation, we feel the strength of the bereaved families, who draw power and hope from the Wall, a place of holiness, unity and comfort. The families who took part left strengthened, with renewed strength they so deeply deserve.”
Festival of Lights in Tanzania
In Tanzania, in East Africa, Chabad emissary Rabbi Shimi Aziza is holding daily Hanukkah candlelightings throughout the holiday, with Israelis, local Jews and tourists taking part. Alongside Hanukkah songs, sufganiyot, latkes and holiday celebrations, Rabbi Aziza shares a daily reflection on the meaning of the festival.
Each day, he honors a different Jew by lighting the candle on a large, ornate menorah placed at the Jewish center he established in recent years. The Hanukkah celebrations in Tanzania extend beyond the public lighting, as the young rabbi also makes personal holiday visits to Jews living in different parts of the city.
“The Lubavitcher Rebbe instructed us to bring the light of Hanukkah to every Jew,” Rabbi Aziza said. “That’s what we are doing here every day of Hanukkah.”