Apex to host community Hanukkah celebration this weekend

The Chabad of Cary Learning Center is getting ready to host its second Hanukkah Celebration in Apex this weekend.

The celebration begins at 3:30 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 1, with a special program for kids at the Halle Cultural Arts Center in downtown Apex. The program includes a Hanukkah puppet show by master puppeteer Arthurana Gabrielli, crafts, donut decorating and a Hanukkah Dance Machine. The event runs until 4:30 p.m. and is followed by a snowy street outside where kids can play. 

At 5 p.m., town leaders will light a nine-foot menorah followed by music and hot potato latkes and donuts, traditional Hanukkah treats. After the lighting of the menorah, a fire performance will follow. The menorah is at 220 North Salem St.

Hanukkah begins the evening of Wednesday, Nov. 27, and ends on the evening of Dec. 5. That's a week or more earlier than usual. The dates are based on the Hebrew calendar.

The Chabad of Cary is one of many Chabad centers around the world that are staging public displays of the menorah. 

"It is a holiday that enriches our lives with the light of tradition" said Rabbi Yisroel Cotlar, director of the Chabad Learning Center. "In ancient times, our ancestors rededicated the Temple in Jerusalem with the Menorah. Today, we rededicate ourselves to making this world a better and brighter place."