Page 3 - CKA December Bulletin 2017

Notes from Rabbi Dunsker
And suddenly it’s December. I can hardly believe it. I think I can already smell the latkes!
This year our annual Latke Fest will be on Sunday, December 17, at 5:00 p.m., when we will light the sixth candle for Hanukkah. The word Hanukkah in Hebrew means “dedication.” After the Maccabees’ victory, the Temple in Jerusalem needed to be re-dedicated for Jewish worship by clearing out all the evidence of idol worship and re-lighing the ner tamid, the eternal light, as a sign of God’s presence. We might even think about each light as an opportunity to rededicate ourselves to some important goal each night.
I am so very pleased that our wonderful local author Eric Kimmel will be with us this year as part of our Hanukkah event. He is a very important writer of children’s books, including several for Hanukkah. His readings are always sweet and heartfelt; you will enjoy listening to him no ma er your age! We will have books available for purchase that evening, or you can bring your own from home; he promises to sign them all.
And don’t forget to join us on Friday, December 22 at 6:00 p.m. for our annual Moo Shu Shabbat Chinese food dinner and service.
I want to also add a special thank you to everyone who a ended and to everyone who helped out at our interfaith Thanksgiving service. We had a packed house full of folks who didn’t want to leave, and that is due to the great hospitality and warmth that came from us. Thank you, thank you.
Amy S
Education Director
Amy’s comments
As I am writing this, the December holidays seem far away, although, of course, they are just around the corner.
When my children were school-age I would meet this time of year with some con icting feelings: I loved the celebrating, the time with family and friends, se ing out our beautiful hanukkiyot, and the copious quantities of fried food. But I also struggled with how much Christmas I was going to let into our lives, and where I was going to draw the line with school. In other words, The December Dilemma.
Every family has to come to terms with this in a way that is, for them, comfortable and true. For us, it meant keeping our home Jewish, while also celebrating with our non-Jewish friends and family when they invited us to participate in their traditions and festivities. It also meant walking a narrow path with schools and individual teachers to a rm their desire to provide fun and festivities while minimizing the religious aspects of the season. For us, this was relatively simple. Although my husband is not Jewish, we had agreed to raise our children in a Jewish home, and celebrate only Hanukkah. It is not so simple for many other families and often the solutions we come up with feel imperfect.
I encourage families to seek and use some of the excellent resources that are out there to help them negotiate this sometimes fraught time. Interfaithfamily. com has excellent and numerous resources on this topic (among others). The ADL has an extremely good set of resources if you need help negotiating this season with schools or other institutions. It is easy to locate by just typing ADL December Dilemma into your search bar. If you are interested in more or di erent resources, please let me know and I will be happy to help.
From my family to yours – we wish you a Hanukkah lled with love and light.
Here is just a sample of the more than
100 books by Eric Kimmel
• Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins
• Hanukkah Bear
• The Golem’s Latkes
• The Chanukkah Guest
• Zigazak! A Magical Hanukkah Night
• The Jar of Fools: Eight Hanukkah Stories
from Chelm
• Gershon’s Monster: A Story for the Jewish
New Year
• Mysterious Guests: A Sukkot Story
• Wonders and Miracles: A Passover Companion
• The Story of Esther: A Purim Tale
• When Mindy Saved Hanukkah
• Joseph and the Sabbath Fish
• The Spotted Pony: A Collection of Hanukkah
Stories
• Even Higher! A Rosh Hashanah Story
Congregation Kol Ami
Page 3