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Dozens of cars topped with menorahs parade through Phoenix

The Menorah Car Parade marks the beginning of Hanukkah in the Valley.

PHOENIX — Hanukkah — also spelled Chanukah or other transliterations from Hebrew — is Judaism’s “festival of lights.” On eight consecutive nights, Jews gather with family and friends to light one additional candle in the menorah — a multibranched candelabra.

This year, Hanukkah began on Dec. 7 and will end on Dec. 15.

To mark the first day of the season, Chabad of Arizona held a Menorah Car Parade through the streets of Phoenix. More than 60 cars topped with menorahs drove the main thoroughfares of Phoenix Thursday, led by a police escort. 

"The Car Menorah Parade is part of the worldwide Hanukkah campaign, an initiative launched by the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory, in 1973," a statement from Chabad of Arizona said. "The campaign highlights and encourages the central theme of the holiday — publicizing the story of the Hanukkah miracle."

RELATED: When does Hanukkah start this year?

In Hebrew, Hanukkah means “dedication,” and the holiday marks the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem in the 2nd century BC, after a small group of Jewish fighters liberated it from occupying foreign forces.

With the tiny supply of ritually pure oil that they found in the temple, they lit the menorah — and it stayed lit for eight days. The ritual of lighting a nightly candle, as well as the emphasis on cooking foods in oil such as potato pancakes called latkes, memorialize this miraculously long-lasting oil.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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