A preschool art project aimed at connecting the Jewish community to Israel and one of the country’s best-known malls will both help mark the holiday of Hanukkah.

Hanukkah, the eight-day festival of lights, marks the rededication of the holy temple in Jerusalem after the Jewish victory over the Syrian-Greeks. This year, Hanukkah will be celebrated from Dec. 20 to 28.

The Lori Schottenstein Chabad Center and its Gan Menachem Preschool will celebrate the season on Sunday with the unveiling of its model Western Wall.

The replica of Jerusalem’s Wailing Wall, a site of Jewish prayer and pilgrimage for centuries, will open to the public during the preschool’s Kids, Craft and Kibbutz program.

Students have been working on the replica wall — made out of painted Styrofoam blocks — and will be able to write prayers and put them in “cracks” in the wall, replicating the traditional practice.

The wall will be open to the community as well and notes will be collected monthly and sent to Israel, where they will be placed in the Western Wall on behalf of the Chabad Center, said Stuart Asbel, the preschool’s director.

“Anyone who wants to send notes to Israel can come and do so,” Asbel said. “The intention is to be a permanent fixture. It’s a good opportunity for the community to come and see what we’re doing with the preschool and find out what our school is all about and what makes it very special.”

Other events include a sing-along, stories, crafts including dreidel decorating, and traditional Hanukkah foods.

Children will also get to operate a real olive oil press and make their own oil.

“Everybody will learn how to make olive oil because that’s what was used to light the Hanukkah menorah,” Asbel said.

The event is free for adults; admission for children is $10. It starts at 10:30 a.m. at the Chabad Center, 6220 East Dublin-Granville Road in New Albany.

Two community menorah lightings will also be held next week. Both events are free and open to the public.

The city of Bexley will hold its menorah lighting celebration on Dec. 21 at 7 p.m. at the Drexel Circle, at the corner of East Broad Street and Drexel Avenue. This year’s celebration will honor Mayor John Brennan for his service to the Bexley community.

Brennan was elected to his second term as mayor last month.

Easton Town Center, in partnership with the Lori Schottenstein Chabad Center, will host a menorah lighting on Dec. 22.

The ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. at Easton Square Place, in front of the Brio restaurant.

Easton, recently named one of America’s most innovative malls by trade magazine Inside Retail, is the perfect setting for a Hanukkah celebration, said Rabbi Areyah Kaltmann, of the Chabad Center.

“Easton has been a great venue for people coming together and celebrating the holiday season. What makes America such an incredible place and such a leader in the world is that it has a beautiful mosaic that is comprised of many different parts and one of those is the light of a Hanukkah menorah.”

It also serves to help share the story and beliefs of Hanukkah with non-Jews, Kaltmann said.

“The menorah light is a symbol of the freedom of religion; it’s a Jewish festival but its meaning is universal,” Kaltmann said. “That light pushes away darkness. Through education, through doing good deeds, it becomes a better world for everyone in the world. It fits so perfectly with Easton in the idea that it is a very open and diverse place.”

The Jewish Community Center, 1125 College Ave. in Bexley, is holding a food drive to benefit the Mid-Ohio Foodbank as part of its Hanukkah celebrations.

The JCC’s “Potato a Day” event runs through Dec. 23 and encourages people to donate potatoes, sweet potatoes, onions and other vegetables every time they visit the center. The ingredients are those found in latkes, or potato pancakes, a traditional Hanukkah dish.

For more information on programs at the JCC visit www.columbusjcc.org. For more on the Easton menorah lighting and events at the Lori Schottenstein Chabad Center, visit www.chabadcolumbus.com.