Rabbi Dubov, of Chabad of Oviedo–Winter Springs, at the forefront of a Hanukkah celebration held at Center Lake Park in Oviedo on Monday night, greeted and mingled with those in attendance.
Young families with children sat for face painting, others visited the various tables of activities that included spinning dreidels and coloring. Posing for selfies with friends, some wore yamakas, others were from the community and not of the Jewish faith.
Rabbi Tzvi Dubov, of Chabad of Oviedo–Winter Springs, lights the two candles on the menorah created out of canned goods that will be donated to the Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida during a Hanukkah celebration at Center Lake Park in Oviedo on Monday, December 15, 2025. (Rich Pope/Orlando Sentinel)
This night, the second one of Hanukkah, Rabbi Dubov was trying to bring a focus back to the meaning of the lighting of the menorah, while acknowledging the hurt caused from the horrific killing of Jewish individuals celebrating the first night of Hanukkah on Australia’s Bondi Beach Sunday evening. His message being on how Jewish traditions “offer incredible insights and inspiration in times when life can feel overwhelming.”
Taking to the microphone while standing in front of a rather unique menorah that was created out of canned goods that will be donated to the Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida, Rabbi Dubov addressed those that had gathered to watch the two candles to be lit.
“When the world feels so dark, especially in light of what happened in Australia, we ask ourselves, ‘Is it even worth it? We work to try to make the world a better place every single day. We try to add more light, and it feels that we are not making a dent,’” said Rabbi Dubov. However, he was quick to counter those thoughts of concession, saying that the menorah, in its simple act, is a symbol that shows how to overcome those doubts. “Come along the menorah, and it tells us our job is to add one candle… If every individual adds one light, we make the world a brighter place. When everyone adds one act of kindness, one mitzvah, one (good) deed, we make the world truly a wonderful and beautiful place,” said Dubov.
Rabbi Tzvi Dubov gets some help telling the story of Hanukkah from Chabad of Oviedo–Winter Springs Hebrew School students Katherine Pollack, Andrew Pollack and Julianna Dolling during the Hanukkah celebration at Center Lake Park in Oviedo on Monday, December 15, 2025. (Rich Pope/Orlando Sentinel)
Oviedo Mayor Megan Sladek speaks to community members at the Hanukkah celebration at Center Lake Park in Oviedo on Monday, December 15, 2025. (Rich Pope/Orlando Sentinel)
Central Florida Pledge members Dr. Joel Hunter, right, and Jasper Batia and his wife, Gunwant Bhatia, gather for a picture together at the Hanukkah celebration at Center Lake Park in Oviedo on Monday, December 15, 2025. (Rich Pope/Orlando Sentinel)
Rabbi Tzvi Dubov, of Chabad of Oviedo–Winter Springs, speaks to the crowd during a celebration at Center Lake Park in Oviedo on Monday, December 15, 2025, about the symbolic meaning of lighting a menorah and how it relates to overcoming the overwhelming grief felt after the horrific killing of Jewish individuals at a Hanukkah celebration in Australia on Sunday. (Rich Pope/Orlando Sentinel)
Katherine Pollack gets her face painted during the Hanukkah celebration at Center Lake Park in Oviedo on Monday, December 15, 2025. (Rich Pope/Orlando Sentinel)
Katherine Pollack walks away from the face-painting station with a look that goes well with her cotton candy accessory during the Hanukkah celebration at Center Lake Park in Oviedo on Monday, December 15, 2025. (Rich Pope/Orlando Sentinel)
Draddles take a twirl at a table of Hanukkah-related activities during the celebration at Center Lake Park in Oviedo on Monday, December 15, 2025. (Rich Pope/Orlando Sentinel)
Rabbi Tzvi Dubov and his wife, Fraidy Dubov, and their children gather for a photo during a Hanukkah celebration at Center Lake Park in Oviedo on Monday, December 15, 2025.(Rich Pope/Orlando Sentinel)
A photo op background is set up at the Hanukkah celebration at Center Lake Park in Oviedo on Monday, December 15, 2025. (Rich Pope/Orlando Sentinel)
Community members dance together shortly after the lighting of two candles on the menorah on the second night of Hanukkah during a celebration at Center Lake Park in Oviedo on Monday, December 15, 2025.(Rich Pope/Orlando Sentinel)
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Rabbi Tzvi Dubov gets some help telling the story of Hanukkah from Chabad of Oviedo–Winter Springs Hebrew School students Katherine Pollack, Andrew Pollack and Julianna Dolling during the Hanukkah celebration at Center Lake Park in Oviedo on Monday, December 15, 2025. (Rich Pope/Orlando Sentinel)
Among the individuals and families that had gathered was also Oviedo Mayor Megan Sladek and members of the Central Florida Pledge community, who she asked to come in support of their Jewish friends and neighbors.
Longtime Central Florida Christian leader Dr. Joel Hunter was among the Pledge members that came, stating that while the menorah lighting event was planned for the community long before the tragic events took place, it became an obvious “symbol and a response” for other faith communities to come together and remind Central Florida’s Jewish community that they are not alone in their grief.
Rabbi Tzvi Dubov, of Chabad of Oviedo–Winter Springs, gets some help lighting the shamash, the “helper” candle, before the lighting of the two candles on the menorah on the second night of Hanukkah during a celebration at Center Lake Park in Oviedo on Monday, December 15, 2025. (Rich Pope/Orlando Sentinel)
In a sense, the call for the Pledge members to show was a rather simple act, and much like Rabbi Dubov’s message of what the menorah signifies, a simple act like lighting a candle can compound and become much more profound. So did the simple act of showing up as a community to understand, heal and show compassion for one another in a time of grief.
“We just start with one candle, we take one step and we add as we can every night,” said Rabbi Dubov.