When we first held the Hanukkah celebration at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, in 2014, none of us could have imagined how small our “home-scale” menorah would feel amongst the incredible crowd. One thousand of us stood around the small electric menorah, and in the magic of the moment, we swore to increase the light in coming years, as is the essence of Hanukkah.

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With that vision in mind, in 2016 we debuted “Between Lands,” a room-size Hanukkiah that featured one of the first-ever virtual reality installations in a museum. The Secret Portal VR creative team was newly in search of creating alternative immersive experiences at museums, and partnered with the Jewish Arts Collaborative to create a first-of-its-kind room-scale installation that invited guests to traverse the room in a VR headset. Named by Boston Magazine as one of the first VR experiences in a museum setting, this experience transported guests to a magical world of wonder, inspired by the miracle and illumination of Hanukkah. 

Hear the creative team discuss “Between Lands” here, and get a taste of what you will see this year on Thursday, Dec. 18, at Hanukkah: The Festival of Light at the MFA. While the headset will not reappear, the larger-than-life candles will be illuminated yet again as CJP president & CEO Rabbi Marc Baker leads us in the magical communal candle-lighting.

Want to increase the light with us as we lead up to Hanukkah this year? View the slideshow above for a snapshot of some of the art Hanukkiot over the years.

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