The Chanukah House Menorah Lightings Set

It takes a lot of work to get the hundreds of decorations up and running at Chanukah House.

Homeowner Yitz Fleischman and Gannon Dales, his brother-in-law, have been working for at least a week to get the inflatables, lights, animated and holiday decorations up and operating by Chanukah. The first night of the eight-day holiday is Dec. 20.

This is the second year that Fleischman and his wife, Sora, have hosted at their home in the Greenspring/Smith avenues neighborhood of Pikesville.

He bought the hundreds of decorations from the Cohen family. The Cohens founded Baltimore Chanukah House at their Upper Park Heights home, and put out elaborate decorations for years, until 2009.

At about that same time, Fleischman began to decorate his own home for the Jewish holiday. And when he heard that the Cohens were no longer decorating, he went there to buy one of the decorations from them.

He ended up buying their entire collection, including the , a set of eight mini-suits of armor that humorously represent the eight-night holiday.

Fleischman held The Chanukah House for the first time last year, scheduling a different group each night to ceremoniously light one candle of the menorah.

Following is the schedule for the menorah lighting at The Chanukah House this week:

• 1st Night of Chanukah, Dec. 20: Featuring Ohr Chadash Academy, 6:30 p.m.
• 2nd Night, Dec. 21: Featuring Jewish War Veterans, 7 p.m.
• 3rd Night, Dec. 22: Scheduled to light the candle are Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown, Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz, Councilwoman Vicki Almond and Police Chief Jim Johnson.
• 4th Night Shabbos, Dec. 23: Lighting at 4:30 p.m.
• 5th Night, Dec. 24: Featuring Menucha, Inc., 7 p.m.
• 6th Night, Dec. 25: Lighting schedule to be announced.
• 7th Night, Dec. 26: Featuring Baltimore Yachad, 7 p.m.
• 8th Night, Dec. 27: Featuring Geruras Yarden, 7 p.m.

The Chanukah House decorations will be up until the end of December for visitors, according to The Chanukah House website.