Reignite Chanukah!!!!

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!