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JWR VerifiedFounding RecordJWR-2026-000234

Largest Menorah

Record holder

Shmuel ButmanPerson

Record value

9.7 m × 8.5 m

Country represented: United StatesAchievement location: New York City, New York, United StatesAchievement date: 29 December 2006Current record

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Verified by Jewish World RecordsHow we verify records

World's Largest Menorah on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan

The record-holding giant Hanukkah menorah on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan.Chaim Perl / Chabad.org via Wikimedia CommonsSourceCC BY 2.0

Official record definition

The largest menorah recognized by the controlling world-record authority by documented dimensions.

Measurement methodology

Guinness World Records verified dimensions and weight

Measurement point: overall height of the recognized record-holding menorah

Record story

The giant Manhattan menorah is a record object, a public ritual structure and a recurring piece of New York's holiday landscape. Rabbi Shmuel Butman spent decades promoting public Hanukkah lightings, and the 32-foot menorah associated with him and designed by Yaacov Agam became the most visible expression of that work. JWR records the Guinness dimensions while transparently flagging the one-year date inconsistency inside the Guinness page itself.

Media

Video showing the record-holding giant menorah on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan.

How JWR verified this record

Verification date
27 September 2026
Verification standard
JWR Verification Standard 1.0

Achievement evidence

Guinness World Records lists Shmuel Butman as holder of the 'largest menorah' record at 32 ft tall by 28 ft wide and 4,000 lb. The page's structured 'When' field gives 29 December 2006, while its narrative text says the menorah was unveiled on 29 December 2005.

Superiority evidence

As re-checked on 27 September 2026, Guinness World Records publicly lists this holder/value for the stated record category. JWR treats that controlling record-category page as the benchmark for this definition and found no duplicate JWR record using the same metric.

Jewish Eligibility — Verified by JWR

Jewish eligibility verification

Evidence establishing that the holder qualifies as Jewish for JWR purposes.

  • World's largest menorah erected in NYC for Hanukkah celebrations — The Jerusalem Post

Achievement / record verification

Evidence establishing that the holder achieved the result and holds the record as defined.

  • Largest menorah — Guinness World Records

Superiority / counter-candidate verification

Evidence comparing the result with other candidates relevant to the record claim.

  • World's largest menorah erected in NYC for Hanukkah celebrations — The Jerusalem Post

Jewish eligibility, achievement and superiority evidence retain their separate classifications and are never merged. Context and provenance are not presented as proof of the achievement. Restricted evidence and internal research notes are never published. Learn more about the seven-stage process on the verification page.

Sources & Verification

  • Largest menorah

    Official recordGuinness World Records

    What this proves: Guinness World Records identifies the menorah associated with Shmuel Butman as the world's largest, measuring 32 ft tall and 28 ft wide and weighing 4,000 lb; its record page lists 29 December 2006 as the record date.

  • World's largest menorah erected in NYC for Hanukkah celebrations

    Independent publicationThe Jerusalem Post

    What this proves: Independent reporting documents the continuing Manhattan Hanukkah menorah tradition and its association with Rabbi Shmuel Butman.

History

  1. Verified

    Verified according to JWR Verification Standard 1.0.

  2. Publishedv1

    Published to the official JWR registry.

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