Orange County in Action

The lights of Chanukah were kindled in numerous public settings throughout Orange County last week. In a tribute to contemporary Maccabees, Evan King, a New York firefighter, came to light the oversized menorah at Newport Beach’s Fashion Island on Sunday. In other first-night celebrations, the 50-member youth choir from Congregation Beth Tikvah entertained at Yorba Linda’s Richard Nixon Library, even as giant menorahs glowed near the lifeguard tower in Laguna Beach; in Laguna Niguel’s Crown Valley Park; in Mission Viejo’s Florence Joyner Park; and outside the Jewish Federation campus in Costa Mesa. Later in the week, more public lightings were held in the parking lot of Newport Beach’s Temple Bat Yahm; at the Cerritos, Westminster and Lakewood malls, where the shoppers were treated to songs from Hebrew Academy’s mall-hopping, third-grade choir; and in front of Edwards Theaters in Rancho Santa Margarita, where students of Morasha Jewish Day School sang. — Andrea Adelson, Contributing Writer