This year, the first spark of Chanukah took place a few days
before the actual holiday. YISE Youth and YISE nursery hosted over 250 people
for our ‘Reignite Chanukah’ event! From start to finish, there was an
excitement in the room as the kids walked in to the social hall to the sounds
of joyous Chanukah music. Everyone was first treated to a few words about
Chanukah from Rabbi Rosenbaum. Once Rabbi Rosenbaum finished speaking, Rabbi
Wolvovsky took the stage and wowed the children with his fantastic olive oil
press demonstration. The kids all had a chance to crush the olives before they
went into the press. 
As the demonstration concluded, all of the kids were treated
to delicious sufganiyot. Everyone waited patiently as our fantastic teen
volunteers managed the three lines and handed out the treats. After everyone
had their sweet tooth satisfied, we opened up the 30 foot inflatable obstacle
course, where children raced against each other to try and find the last jar of
olive oil in the “Bais HaMikdash”. Laughter could be heard throughout the room, and the pure olive oil was found. 
Additionally, we also had several of our craftsman working on building Chanukiyot
out of recycled materials, children coloring “stained glass” Chanukah projects,
and playing games of dreidel. While the gelt went fast, the smiles stuck around
long after the chocolate coins had been finished. Each child who created a Chanukiyah out of recycled materials got to come up on stage and present their marvelous inventions. It was impressive to see the various ways that the Chanukiyot were constructed and how proud
the children were of their work.
I would like to extend a tremendous thank you to all who
helped to make this event possible, both by attending, and by volunteering. Our community continues to be incredibly supportive, and eager to bring their children to share in the fun and the learning!
