At the same time of this season, another religious holiday is observed. The Jewish celebration of Hanukkah. Hanukkah takes place over eight nights and commemorates the deliverance of Israel from Syria. The oil in the temple became contaminated and couldn’t be used, so there was only enough oil to burn for one day. The miracle that is celebrated is that the oil burned for eight days. This is why we light the menorah. Congregation Emanuel recently had a Hanukkah celebration and we were invited to join it. Special thanks goes to Rabbi Michael Zedek for the great time and hospitality. Over 1200 latkes were made for the dinner and this year’s dinner had a record of over 300 , making this the largest congregational dinner in Emanuel’s history. There was lots of food and that means lots of sweets. Cantor Ruthie Seidner led the children in Hanukkah melodies. The people responsible for the event were the co -chairs Ira Bodenstein and Andy Lowenthal.
The lovely table setting shows applesauce which is put on top of the latkes.
This young boy lights his menorah at the mass Menorah Lighting
Menorahs are works of art, they come in all kinds of shapes
This is a really cute one
One of the kids made this one , it is Kermit the Frog
Here are few more menorahs
This little cutie shows his love for Hanukkah
The yummy chicken dinner and latkes , also green beans and of course Coke
Sweets and more sweets are always part of temple celebrations.
The kids love to sing the traditional Hanukkah songs
Me and Rabbi Zedek , who was gracious enough to invite us to the celebration. Matzetov!!
