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Top Rabbi to Mark Start of Hanukkah by Lighting Menorah in Central Moscow

Berel Lazar (R), Chabad's top rabbi in Russia. Sergei Porter / Vedomosti

A chief Russian rabbi will light a Hanukkah menorah in central Moscow on Tuesday evening as the Jewish Festival of Lights gets underway at sundown.

Berel Lazar, Chabad's top rabbi in Russia, will light the menorah at 5 p.m. on Ploshchad Revolyutsii (Revolution Square), the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia said in a statement.

Celebrations will also include "traditional dances, music and refreshments," the statement said.

The eight-day holiday will see a range of other festivities take place in the Russian capital, including concerts, a performance titled "Hanukkah Ice" at a rink near the Park Pobedy metro in western Moscow on Dec. 18, and a festival for children at the Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center on Dec. 21.

The Federation of Jewish Communities will also present its "Fiddler on the Roof" award for cultural and social achievements at the Kremlin Palace on Dec. 17, according to the statement.

To find out more information about any of the ongoing Hanukkah festivities, please click here (in Russian).

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