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Read the press release here.

JCC in Manhattan Seeks Light-Themed Photos for Hanukkah

By Emily Frost | December 15, 2014 5:40pm
 The campaign asks people to submit photos of light they encounter in their lives using the hashtag #PlusLight. 
The campaign asks people to submit photos of light they encounter in their lives using the hashtag #PlusLight. 
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Flickr/Itzik Edri

UPPER WEST SIDE — To celebrate Hanukkah, the JCC Manhattan has launched a social media campaign calling on people across the globe to submit photos of light in their lives.

For every 50 photos tagged #PlusLight and shared across Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or any other social media platform, the company MPOWERD has agreed to donate a small inflatable solar light to a poor community in the developing world.

As of Monday evening, more than 80 photos were shared from as close as Columbus Circle and as far away as Uruguay.

The photos submitted involve scenes of menorahs and other traditional markers of the Jewish holiday, but also a wide array of interpretations of what light means — from children playing to a sunrise.

"Plus Light" was conceived by New York City-based painter and sculptor Tobi Kahn, who wanted to make the experience of sharing photographs expressing light part of celebrating Hannukah, as well as a universal experience.

"Through these photographs, people will see how multi-faceted interpretations of light can be, and that all these ways add to a greater whole," he said.

The photos also serve to lift people's spirits, he explained.

"As more news comes out day to day about the current situations going on in the world around us, it is easy to feel as if there is not enough light, especially in this winter time," Kahn said. "Plus Light serves as a way to add more light into the world."

The artist hopes it will also literally help light up poor communities through the participation of MPOWERD, which designs the portable solar lights it plans to donate.

"We thought there’s no better time than the Festival of Lights to promote awareness for something many of us take for granted, even when we're surrounded by it," said Scott Kling, president and COO of MPOWERD.

"Reliable access to something so simple yet transformative should be a human right," he said, "not a privilege."