Jewish schools breaks Guinness record for menorah lighting

Students, educators and staff of the ORT school framework sent out thousands of points of light into the universe on the last day of Hanukkah Dec. 14 as they lit 1,200 menorahs, breaking the previous Guinness record of 1,100 lit menorahs.

In order to break the record all 1,200 menorahs had to be lit within five minutes.

Organized at the initiative of the Ministry of Diaspora Affairs and the management of UnitEd, a joint venture of the ministry and Herzog College aimed at strengthening Jewish schools in the Diaspora, the record-breaking event was held in memory of the late Sgt.-Maj. (res.) Yossi Hershkovitz, school principal of the Ort Pelech Boys School who was among five reservists killed in Gaza on Nov. 12.

The event was held in collaboration with PICO Kids, which engages youth in STEM activities, and the First Lego League robotics teams.

Jewish schools around the world joined

Jewish schools involved in the UnitEd programs around the world joined the lighting by Zoom, and some schools sponsored a menorah with the name of a soldier now fighting in Gaza.

“I think one of the beautiful things true about light in the Jewish tradition and Hanukkah for thousands of years and definitely today, is that though there is darkness in the world--and we as the Jewish people know that darkness and have been unfortunately touched by that darkness—we insist on not just lighting a candle, but lighting more candles and bringing more light into the world,” said Assaf Gamzou, director of education of UnitEd. 

“The symbolism of light is especially pertinent this year when darkness has hit us in one of the worst events for people living in the Land of Israel since the destruction of the Second Temple,” he added. 

In the current difficult days in the midst of war and growing antisemitism around the world, the act of lighting the candles together is a strong message of the importance of the unity of Jews world-wide, said Hana Dorsman, CEO of UnitEd.