Never too old to celebrate
Anyone expecting last Sunday's Chanukah celebration of
Jewish Apartments and Services residents to be a simple
luncheon attended by a group of inactive,. older guests was
in for a shock. The event catered to an astounding 500 JAS
residents, guests and their families. Dapper gentlemen
joined women dressed in everything from pantsuits and flo-
ral dresses to sequinS and feather boas.
They arrived at Congregation Beth Shalom in Oak Park,
by shuttle bus, by car and by foot. They came to have fun,
to swing to big band music, and to try winning raffle prizes.
Volunteers were members of the JAS auxiliary Friends
B'rith Girls chapter, members of
and Family Society, a
JARC group homes and apartments, friends of friends of
the. JAS staff and two Canton-Plytnotith high School stu-
dents doinv, their community service hours.
And did they dance! Tlie men danced with the wonien,
the women danced with the women, teen volunteers danced
together, and the very young bounced to the beat on the
shoulders of the taller dancers. Clowns spun the guests
. about, as the Ed Peitz Orchestra kept on tapping their toes
and blowing their horns.
Left: Lillzarz Zellman shmoozes with Eileen Israel.
Sing-Along at Adat Shalom
While singing to residents at West
Bloomfield's Fleischman Residence,
Debbie Schram. Friedman sported a
familiar face in the audience. She later
remembered her discovery with a smile.
"After all the years that 'Yiddish
comedian} Max Sosin sang to me,
here I vas singing to him," she said
As a woman, Friedman, is not the
typical Ad at Shalom Men's Club
member. Her cousin. member Harold
Salter invited her to join the sing-
along. Although most residents at
Fleischman and. later at the Danto
Nursing Home appeared to appreci-
ate the voices, as the songs got liveli-
er and the joking got louder, one resi-
dent called out, Are you done vet?
You're oivinc, me a headache!"
Below: Harold Salter sings at Daiwa
History of Chartuluth
The eight day holiday of Chanukah begins on the 25th
day of the Jewish month of Kislev, this year coinciding
with Sunday evening, December 13.
Also termed the Festival of Lights, the Hebrew word
Chanukah means dedication, and marks the rededication
of the Temple in Jerusalem after it was recovered from
the Syrians in 165 B.C.E. Chanukah also commemorates
the great victory of Judah the Maccabee, eventually lead-
ing to the religious freedom of the Jewish people.
The observance of lighting Chanukah candles origi-
nated when the small vial of oil found at the reclaimed
Temple burned for eight days in the golden candlestick
in its sanctuary. From this we derive the eight days of the
festival, and the addition of one light each night.
Chanukah candles are lit at dusk. and placed so as to be
visible from the outside.
-
Glue and glitter by candlelight
"Light one candle for the Maccabi children.
Give thanks that their light didn't die."
The 30 families that crowded into the
room at the Jewish Comm u nity Center in
West Bloomfield were in full voice=, doing
loud justice to songwriter Peter Yarrow's
Light One Candle. Good choice of a song,
particularly since that's also the tante of the
event, which Lisa Bernstein, JCC Youth
and Family Education coordinator, calls a
"Chanukah program with a new twist."
Each participating family joined
together to create one group menorah,
using glue, paint, glitter and assorted
decorative aids. Then each candle was
designated to represent a person or con-
cept they chose to honor, including
grandparents, Shabbat and God.
Every family took home a nten.orah,
each wooden, melt colorful, each different.
They also took home a chart listing the
recipients of their honors.
Above: Jake Feinbaurn, 2, gets
into menorah painting.
illel takes to the ice
It was easy to pick out the group celebrating
Chanukah on c, as liippah-wearing members of
I fillet of Metropolitan I )ctroit skated by Looking for
something. fun and social enough to bring w a crowd
and soil de in holiday observance, the group held its
Chanukah party at the Farmington Hills Ice Arena.
The evening included a combination of the tradi-
tional menorah-lighting, latke-eating, dreidel-playing
activities, as well as the non-traditional Chanukah
observance of skating and falling on the ice.
Right: Chyle Drissman, 20, off:armin g/on lm/.9,
show, Aaron Zeevi, 21, of Oak Park, how to
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Detroit Jewish News
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