32 | DECEMBER 19 • 2019

Chanukah Wonderland will
open to the public from
noon-5 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 22,

4 p.m. Monday, Dec. 23, and
from noon-3 p.m. Tuesday,
Dec. 24, at its new location
inside the former Champps
restaurant, 6410 Orchard
Lake Road, West Bloomfield.
The Wonderland will
include a hands-on olive
oil-making demonstration,
doughnut and latke making
and a Chanukah Tot
Town, plus new activities
including a holiday virtual
reality experience, T-shirt
designing, Chanukah slime,

canvas art, Legoland and
more. The walls will be lined
with more than 150 pieces of
Chanukah artwork submitted
for the annual JN art contest.
A “giving Menorah” will
accept donated cans of food
for Yad Ezra.
At 4:30 p.m. Dec. 23, a
“gelt drop” will rain chocolate
coins on participants from
the top of a firetruck’
s
extended ladder. Hillel
Drama Club will perform a
Chanukah musical and there
will be a parade of menorah-
topped cars. The event will
include the kindling of a

12-foot menorah, and latkes,
doughnuts and soup will be
served.
Cost is $5 per child. The
Monday menorah parade and
gelt drop are free. For tickets
and details, go to
chanukahwonderlandmi.

com.
Chanukah Wonderland
is presented by the Sara
Tugman Bais Chabad Torah
Center with the help of
REM Management as well
as numerous sponsors and
donors.

Rabbi G Meets
Pope Francis

Kids Kicking Cancer’
s founder
meets with the pope in Italy.

R

abbi Elimelech Goldberg,
the founder of Kids
Kicking Cancer fondly
known as Rabbi G, was given
the opportunity to meet Pope
Francis at the Vatican during a
recent conference in Italy.
Rabbi G attended the
“Promoting Digital Child
Dignity — From Concept to
Action” conference organized
by the Pontifical Academy of
Sciences (PAS) Nov. 14-15. The
conference brought together
world leaders for an interfaith
discussion on child safety, slav-
ery and trafficking.
Rabbi G’
s friend, Rabbi David

Rosen, international director
of Interreligious Affairs of the
American Jewish Committee,
encouraged Rabbi G to partici-
pate in the conference.
“David was actually a speaker
at the conference,
” Rabbi G said.
“Since this was about protect-
ing vulnerable children, Rabbi
Rosen made a point that if chil-
dren develop adverse childhood
experiences (ACEs), they are
more likely to be preyed upon
by predators.
“But teaching children how
to be resilient and deal with
their own trauma and stress
empowers the child and makes

them less vulnerable to their
own trauma but also to other
people. And that’
s what we are
doing with Kids Kicking Cancer
— empowering kids to become
teachers and breathe in the light
and breathe out the darkness.
”
When meeting with Pope
Francis, Rabbi G taught him the
Kids Kicking Cancer “power,
peace and purpose” bow.
“Pope Francis was very gen-
uine and was sincerely inspired
by the children,
” Rabbi G said.
“I think that people who live
in the world that emphasizes
light appreciate that sometimes
the greatest conveyors of that

light can be children who may
have been introduced to dark-
ness but have learned that they
can break through it.
”
During the conference, Rabbi
G spoke with other world lead-
ers like Sheikh Saif Bin Zayed of
the United Arab Emirates and
Queen Silvia of Sweden.
“This conference gave me
the opportunity to speak with
world leaders who share my
passion of strengthening chil-
dren,
” Rabbi G said. “Teaching
children to go beyond their own
pain and trauma enables them
to teach the world.
”

CORRIE COLF STAFF WRITER

Rabbi G and
Pope Francis

Jews in the D

COURTESY OF RABBI G

New Venue for
Chanukah Wonderland