NEW YORK — Millions of people around the globe will celebrate Chanukah simultaneously this year on the Internet at chanukah99.com.

Utilizing Real-Video streaming technology and state-of-the-art design values, the Chanukah supersite, will bring people together from every continent to celebrate the holiday.

USHERING IN THE HOLIDAY
Since two weeks before the holiday, chanukah99.com is helping people prepare by informing them of — and actually demonstrating on video — the hows, whys and whens of the holiday; facilitating the ordering over the internet of full Menorah kits, posters and do-it-yourself kits for children; and offering an "Ask the Rabbi" feature for any holiday question.

(Due to the calendar cycle this year the practices of the first Chanukah eve are more complicated than usual. Chanukah begins on Friday eve, December 3, and the candles have to be lit earlier (even before the Sabbath candles) and have to last longer than those of the following days. The site will help people prepare for this as well.)

Leading up to and throughout the holiday visitors will browse an on-line database of public Menorah lighting events in their local communities, as well as a picture archive of many of these celebrations.

Then on Sunday, December 5, 3:30 PM, live simultaneous Menorah lightings going on in Jerusalem, Moscow, New York, and Paris will be streamed to millions of computers, offering a global, interactive twist to the holiday.

Audio clips of the Chanukah blessings and songs, plus a full radio theater dramatization of the Chanukah story, will compliment the extensive video archive. In the video area users will observe Jews lighting Menorahs in places as varied as Moscow, Melbourne, Madrid and Milwaukee, watch a Menorah on a gondola in Venice, and one lit near the original Modi'in village from which the Maccabees launched their successful revolt.

A cornucopia of other video clips — including the Lubavitcher Rebbe of righteous memory speaking (in 1991) to a live satellite hookup of Chanukah lightings about technology and Chanukah, an inside look at how Chanukah candles are made, and a depiction of the Chanukah celebration in Israeli army trenches — will be available as well.

SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE
Also available from the visually exciting site will be historical and religious information about the holiday, recipes, and lots more. The supersite is designed for all ages and educational levels, from young children to scholars, and will offer a day-by-day guide to celebrating the eight-day holiday.

"Virtual Chanukah 99" is a project of the American Friends of Lubavitch and designed with the entire family in mind. The site's features includes games for small children to in-depth study, how-to guides to daily meditations.

A more detailed guide to the site's features follows:

  • LOCAL LIGHTINGS The supersite will maintain a global database of Chanukah Menorah-lighting events occurring throughout the world, along with the addresses and times that they will actually take place, to allow for local participation.
  • PICTURE ACHIVE Thousands of pictures of local Menorah lightings will be accessible by city, state and country.
  • VIDEO CLIPS The Chanukah supersite's extensive video archive includes clips on: Menorahs Around the Globe, Give That Soldier a Doughnut!, Making Olive Oil, Visit to a Kosher Candle Factory, Astronaut's Chanukah Adventure, The Latkes How-To, Children's Choir, Menorah as Art and Artifact, and a squeezable version of the Chanukah story called "The Kindergarten's Chanukah Play."
  • AUDIO CLIPS Stories, songs and more will comprise this well-stocked section.
  • ONLINE ORDERING Visitors who would like to join in the celebration of Chanukah but have not an actual Menorah or candles can order at cost price a menorah, candles and how-to guide. Also available is a do-it-yourself Menorah kit for children.
  • ONLINE POSTER A major attraction for kids! Children can order a free, beautiful Chanukah poster to hang up in their bedrooms "from their friends at WWW.CHANUKAH99.COM."
  • TORAH LIGHTS - A series of essays that consider the implications of Chanukah in Jewish thought and religious law.
  • RANDOM CHANUKAH "TIDBITS" - Little-known Chanukah facts — like the truisms that Chanukah can never begin on Monday night or that the Temple Menorah had straight, not round, branches — are interspersed throughout the site.
  • THE CHANUKAH GUIDE - A day-by-day guide to celebrating the holiday and to lighting the Menorah.
  • THE CHANUKAH GAMES - Not just for children, this section offers five games with themes of the holiday, including a "CyberDreidel" that keeps score, word games and picture puzzles, all created with the latest in Java programming technology.
  • THE CHANUKAH STORY - An historical survey of the Chanukah holiday.
  • OLIVE DROPS - Using light and oil (with which the Menorah was traditionally kindled) metaphorically, this section considers the mystical dimension of Chanukah in Kabbalah and Chasidism and supplies "food for thought" for each of the eight days.
  • MODERN MACCABEES - This section allows children and adults to reflect on good deeds and share their experiences with others in the Internet community.
  • TALES OF LIGHT - For children and adults, this section approaches the observance of Chanukah through recounting classical Jewish stories.
  • RECIPES Sumptuous Chanukah recipes, including some from best-selling food author Joan Nathan, will be available on the site.
  • SIX LANGUAGES Much of the information on the Chnaukah supersite will be made available in French, Spanish, Italian, German, Hungarian and Russian, creating a true global celebration!

    Virtual Chanukah 99 (TM) is a project of American Friends of Lubavitch in conjunction with Jewish Educational Media, with conceptual design and editorial work by Lubavitch News Service, and hosted by Dimension 11 and Yard Productions.