Chanukah @ Downtown Tucson

Tucson’s Tallest Menorah was commissioned in 1983 by Rabbi Yossie Shemtov, Executive Director of Chabad Tucson, a Jewish education and outreach organization.

The menorah was inspired by the Chabad-Lubavitch movement’s global campaign to bring public awareness to the Jewish holiday of Chanukah.

The gold-colored, nine-branched steel menorah stands 13 feet tall and weighs approximately 500 pounds. It was designed and engineered by David Tehrani, a graduate of the University of Arizona who later served as a city planner in Los Angeles, and was built by Kasper-Hall Steel in Tucson.

Each year, the menorah is installed at El Presidio Park Plaza, 160 W. Alameda Street in downtown Tucson. The site is adjacent to Tucson City Hall, the Pima County Administration offices, the Pima County Historic Courthouse, and the January 8th Memorial.

Over the years, prominent attendees at the public menorah lighting ceremony have included Tucson mayors George Miller, Jonathan Rothschild, and Regina Romero.

The Tucson menorah was also prominently featured in Let There Be Light (Kehot Publication Society, 1998), a photography book documenting public Chanukah celebrations around the world and highlighting the growing international visibility of the menorah as a symbol of Jewish faith and religious freedom.