Chanukah, the Festival of Lights,
is a celebration of the victory of the Maccabees and the rededication of the Jerusalem Temple.
It also commemorates the miracle of the oil that burned for 8 days.
On December 21, 2008, the 25th day of Kislev, Congregation B'nai Zion celebrated the festival of Chanukah.
Over 150 people from the community of Key West gathered at CBZ
for an evening of companionship, food, entertainment,
and, of course, the ceremonial lighting of the candles.
Alan Soloman and the fundraising committee were overwhelmed by the response from the community.
A fun time was had by all.
Hopefully next year people will send in their RSVP's so the guestimate for
chairs, tables and food can be more accurate.
Happy Chanukah 5769
And a Big Thank You to all those who contributed to make our wonderful Chanukah celebration.
Rabbi Dudai explaining the importance of lighting the candles
Danielle lighting her Menorah
Rose and Jack Einhorn blessing the bread
Rebetzen Nadia preparing 800 latkes
Dr. Jill Landesberg-Boyle and Cantor Dr. John Kreinces
Kenny Weschler and Vera Schiff
Karen, Maxine, Justin, Arnie and Sally
The Maun Family
Becca waiting to light her Menorah
Nadia, Rose and Karen
Sid and Debra Goldman
David Lightman singing accompanied by Karen on spoons
Lauren and Leigh
Kids playing with their dreidels
A tradition is to play the "dreidel" game. A dreidel (or "sivivon") is a four-sided top.
On each side is a different Hebrew letter: (nun), (gimel), (heh) and (peh), corresponding to the words in the
sentence "nes gadol haya po" ("A great miracle happened here").
Of course, the miracle happened in Israel, so outside of Israel, the letter (peh) is replaced by (shin)
for "nes gadol haya sham" ("A great miracle happened there").
The dreidel is used for a gambling game in which each letter represents a different amount of money
(or whatever...) won or lost.
A common Chanukah practice is giving gifts or "gelt" (money) to children.
In Hebrew, "gelt" is called "d'mei
http://www.aish.com/chanukahbasics/chanukahbasicsdefault/Why_Chanukah_Gelt$.asp
Happy Chanukah
"Festival of Lights"
When lighting your candles, dedicate them to those special people who light up your life!
For more info...Google "Hanukkah" ... "Chanukah" ...
Chanukah 2009 begins on Dec 11