Moshe Zaretzky documented candle lighting across Europe and tells about the exciting encounter with the Holocaust survivor in Latvia • Chabad summarizes the holiday in numbers: How many donuts were distributed? • View

• Ice cream menorah in Siberia // Photo: Chabad.org, Kfar Chabad Weekly

Warsaw Corner of Malmo: Tonight (Monday) Chanukah will end. After eight days of candles, candies and donuts we will return to normal, and now it is time to recap what happened over the past week around the world.

Moshe Zaretzky, cantor and national religious singer, last week documented a cross-country trip across Europe, during which he came to a different community every day, sang Hanukkah songs and lit candles together with Chabad followers in various cities. He came to Latvia, Denmark, Poland and other countries, Documented how it warmed the hearts of local Jewish residents and helped to light the Chanukah candles in city centers, some in quite asymptomatic places.

Photos: Moshe Zaretzky, Chabad spokeswoman, Rabbi David Liberzon

Photo: Courtesy of Moshe Zaretzky

Candles lit in Latvia // Photo: Moshe Zaretzky

"About three years ago, I started reaching Chanukah to various communities, mainly in Germany and lighting Chanukah candles with the local residents. This year I decided to reach communities I have never been to," he tells Israel Today. For the first time with his wife, the 25-year-old singer arrived in the community, lit the candles in the town squares with them and local Chabad emissaries and then sang the familiar Chanukah songs. The second part of the event, everywhere, was a fire show or ice skating, depending on In the weather.

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"People told me that poetry is exciting and gives them a feeling that they are Jewish. I felt it was my mission, and that I can influence people who are far from religious. I don't come to show a show or a concert but to connect the Jews to the songs they know - to connect them to their Jewish experience. Seeing you sing all the songs with you. My wife said - it's amazing to see the people of Israel - everywhere eating the same pancakes and donuts and singing the same songs. "

Two places are especially memorable for Zaretzky. "He was approached by a person in Yiddish. He was extremely tall and did not seem particularly fragile, although he was an adult. One of the Chabad emissaries translated what he said." And the man's story was particularly exciting. "He raised his hand and revealed the number on his hand. . He said that when I sang the song 'Exposed Your Holy Arm' he felt the blood flow to him below the number and make him chill, he deserved it straight to the soul. "

Mobile Chanukah // Photo: Moshe Zaretzky

The second city that affected Zaretzky was Malmo, Sweden, which is considered a bastion of Muslims, some of them extremely radical. "When I told people in the country that I was going there the reactions were very concerned that there was a central Hamas nest and the envoy there was antisemitic. I told myself somewhere that 'mitzvah messengers were not damaged' and I did not let it affect me. And the dome, but the feeling was incredible. We lit candles in a central square, together with the local mayor and more than 300 people, and I realized - no matter how persecuted Israel is, the spirit prevails over everything. "

Chabad summarizes: Hundreds of thousands of donuts and gnomes

And in that, Chabad Hasidim sum up the holiday of lights. In 102 countries in total, Chabad devotees have 15,000 Hanukkah candles. 700,000 sets of menorahs and candles were distributed, including 200,000 in Israel - to families, security forces, hospitalized, new immigrants and the elderly. In Israel, 5,000 giant menorahs were placed and another 3,000 were installed on cars and moved around Israel. Only 700,000 donuts were distributed in Israel, and the estimated cost of activity in Israel was about NIS 8 million, which they raised themselves. The tallest Hanukkah menorah was 32 feet high on Manhattan's 5th Avenue, and more than eight million Jews are estimated to have been exposed to the organization's Chanukah campaign. Among other things, 2.5 million guides to the Chanukah celebration were printed in 17 different languages.

In front of the White House // Photo: Shimi Kutner

Red Square, Moscow // Photo: Chabad.org, Kfar Chabad Weekly

Miracle publication on Jamaica plane // Photo: Chabad.org, Kfar Chabad Weekly

Ryakuik, Iceland // Photo by Gabriel Rutenberg

The Hasidim put special emphasis this year on bringing light and joy to those hospitalized in many medical centers and volunteer teams "recruited by emergency" to help the traffic envoys operating in the field as well. In addition, Chabad young people also know about record quantities of donuts that are distributed this year and bring the atmosphere of Chanukah even to those who are away from his home like security forces, seniors and new immigrants.

Bangkok, Thailand // Photo: Chabad.org, Chabad Village Weekly

Cayman Islands // Photo: Chabad.org, Kfar Chabad Weekly

Near the Eiffel Tower // Photo: Thierry GUEZ

"More than forty years ago, the Lubavitcher Rebbe invoked the Chanukah days to publicly announce the traditional miracle, as the Sages had stated, and by doing so create Jewish pride and identity everywhere," explains Rabbi Yosef Aharonov, head of the Chabad mission in Israel . "At first, this was not completely self-evident. Some even feared anti-Semitic reactions that would cause it, preferring to overthrow the Chanukah celebration.

Pawi, San Diego (synagogue where the attack occurred last April) // Photo: Chabad.org, Chabad Village Weekly

Ice cream menorah in Tomsk, Siberia // Photo: Chabad.org, Chabad Village Weekly

The Menorah on Fifth Avenue // Photo: Shimon Romney