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Rabbi Levi Shemtov of Washington, D.C., with essay-contest winner Rafael Shifren, 10, of Carmel Valley. Photo by Baruch Ezagui
WASHINGTON, D.C. Rafael Shifren of Carmel Valley had a starring role Tuesday at the lighting of the National Menorah near the White House on the first night of Hanukkah.
The fifth-grader at Chabad Hebrew Academy in Scripps Ranch read his winning essay on the meaning of Hanukkah before thousands of people who attended the event. He was accompanied by Rabbi Levi Shemtov, executive president of American Friends of Lubavitch, who presided over the lighting.
The ceremony, started in 1979, honors the eight-day Jewish holiday. The national menorah was lit Tuesday by Jack Lew, White House budget manager.
Shifren, 10, won the National Menorah Essay Contest. His essay was chosen the best among several thousand entries from Jewish elementary-school students across the country. The theme was “What Hanukkah means to me.”
Shifren was accompanied to Washington, D.C., by his parents, Gary and Robyn Shifren. They found out Friday that their son had won the contest, his mother said.
Robyn Shifren said that she was so proud of her son’s reading. “It was so sweet,” she said.
The rabbi asked her son if he was nervous as he got on the podium, she said. His short response: “Possibly.”
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