By Robert Kalfus
Chabad of Yonkers Rabbi Mendy Hurwitz takes to heart the mission of “spreading the light” and joy of Chanukah. Rabbi Hurwitz explained that “Chanukah is a holiday celebrated at home. But we bring the light out into the street and share the light, to shed light, to illuminate and push away the darkness,” as he started the fourth night’s Chanukah lighting at the Boyce Thompson Center on North Broadway in Yonkers, with a giant menorah.
Joseph Kelleher, President of Simone Metro Properties, which took the previously abandoned Boyce Thompson property, dormant for 40 years, and developed it into a thriving and attractive commercial center, climbed the ladder to light the shammash “leader” candle as Rabbi Hurwitz sang the traditional Chanukah blessings.Yonkers Police Officer Dean Campana was next up the ladder lighting the first candle, and passed the torch to Isak Levy of Family Wellness Pharmacy at Boyce Thompson, who lit the third and fourth lights.
Rabbi Hurwitz then led a Chanukah procession of a dozen cars, each with a Happy Chanukah sign and a lit electric menorah on top, illuminating Yonkers with a wonderful parade of menorahs, circling Yonkers streets and ending back at Yonkers’ Nahmias et Fils Distillery, for pizza, traditional warm latkes (potato pancakes fried in oil) to all, traditional sufganiot (jelly donuts), and birthday cake celebrating the Rabbi’s son Chaim’s fourteenth birthday.
Yonkers Distillery Nahmias et Fils was founded by Dorit Nahmias and her husband Master Distiller David Nahmias, a former computer-software engineer, who was raised in the small Moroccan town of Taznakht. His parents Joseph and Tamou, and grandparents, Saada and Moshe, were also distillers and they created Mahia, a unique Jewish alcoholic beverage, made entirely from figs, dates, or grapes.
David Nahmias and his wife Dorit hand-craft their award-winning spirits with the finest, natural ingredients and are proudly the sole producers of Mahia in the United States, produced at Nahmias et Fils at 201 Saw Mill River Road, building C.
Visit www.nahmiasetfils.com for more information on their products. And Happy Chanukah Yonkers.
