Narrator: This is the world's largest Hanukkah menorah.
For over 35 years,
it's lit up Central Park South for the eight-day holiday.
But for the rest of the year,
it's actually stored at a workshop
that makes air ducts and garbage chutes.
And the guy who owns it? He's not even Jewish.
I'm Catholic.
Narrator: But it's good business for Frank,
who's owned All-City Metal since 1987.
Every year, the maintenance and setup of the big menorah
costs about $40,000. The gold paint alone cost $1,400.
And getting that menorah to Manhattan from Long Island
isn't easy. It weighs as much as a minivan,
and it's as tall as the goalpost on a football field.
It's four hours to complete, put it together.
Narrator: This menorah isn't only special
because of its size. It's helped spark a movement
to make public Hanukkah ceremonies the norm
across the world.
We follow the journey of New York City's giant menorah
to find out how.
Thank you so much. A wonderful Hanukkah to all of you.
Narrator: All year round,
the menorah is stored here in Long Island.
About two weeks before the holiday,
workers pull sections of it out of shipping containers
and inspect them for any damage.
Frank: The menorah is made out of mostly tubing.
Some of it is three-eighths-of-an-inch-thick steel.
Narrator: Because it's made from industrial materials,
only professional welders can fix it up.
Frank: Yeah, this is not something somebody is going to do
out of their garage.
Narrator: His company actually has
three oversize menorahs
that go up in and around New York City.
Sections of Brooklyn are over there.
This is Manhattan.
This was the menorah that was originally built
to go up in Scarsdale.
Oh, I didn't expect you.
Narrator: When he bought the business in the '80s,
the menorahs came with it.
So did the customer who buys them:
Rabbi Shmuel Butman,
a member of the Chabad Lubavitch Hasidic sect.
Shmuel: I don't think I ever had any doubts. It did beautiful.
And he services it very, very well.
Narrator: Rabbi Butman paid $5,000
for the original menorah.
All-City Metal charges an annual fee to set it up.
Frank: It probably costs somewhere in the area
of about $40,000 to $42,000 per year.
Narrator: Today, The All-City crew
is loading the menorah onto a flatbed truck.
Frank: As you see, it all looks like pieces of an Erector Set.
That's basically what it is.
Luis: You've got to be in certain order.
So you know, they can match the pieces.
Narrator: Two days later,
they drive 35 miles into midtown Manhattan
to deliver the menorah.
A crane unloads the pieces,
and the crew assembles it on the ground.
Trevor Lewin's job is to touch up the gold paint
before the crane lifts the menorah into position.
Trevor: This paint is a gold paint, very expensive,
but it's a very strong and beautiful thing.
You know, the color is very bright,
and it brings out the beauty.
Narrator: The crew uses ropes to steady the menorah
as it goes up.
This year, they get it perfectly leveled on the first try.
Workers then attach stabilizing legs
and add weighted plates to secure everything.
The last step is to add strips of LED lights.
These are a recent addition
that make it more impressive at night.
All set up, the menorah is 32 feet tall,
with an additional 4 feet for the shamash.
But there's a reason why the world's biggest menorah
isn't bigger.
Motti: It needs to be within the line of sight
of people who are passing by.
This is the limitation that Jewish tradition prescribes.
Narrator: For most of history,
Jews didn't make big menorahs.
They celebrated Hanukkah quietly at home or in a synagogue.
That changed in 1974, when rabbis from Chabad
organized a public menorah lighting for the first time
outside Philadelphia's Liberty Hall.
The idea came from their leader.
Motti: Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, of righteous memory,
was the most influential rabbi in modern history
and created a Jewish revival after the Holocaust
around the world, globally.
Narrator: The menorah's arms are straight, not curved.
That's closer to what the original menorah
in the ancient temple in Jerusalem looked like,
according to Jewish sources.
Narrator: Rabbi Butman lit the world's biggest menorah
for the first time in December 1986.
And every year, the first candle is usually lit
by a New York VIP, like Mayor-elect Eric Adams.
Since then, big menorahs have spread across the world.
Today, Chabad celebrates an estimated
15,000 public lightings.
They include places where, not too long ago,
it would have been unthinkable
to host any kind of Jewish gathering,
like in front of Moscow's Kremlin
or the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin.
Shmuel: Before you go, get your own menorah,
so when you come home, with God's help,
you'll be able to light your own menorah.
Narrator: So even if menorahs are limited in size,
there's no limit to how far their lights can reach.
Motti: The menorah is a symbol of life and a symbol of hope.
And that's a message that everyone could take
from the story of Hanukkah.
A little light dispels an immense amount of darkness.
Nothing in life comes easy.
We'll take care of that candle in a moment.
Thank you very, very much.